Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Fate's Hiccup
by The Baron of Cake
Summary: Destiny is a tricky mistress. It will either help you or hinder you. regardless of how noble or evil your intentions. This time around, however, fate offers her hand not for Dio Brando, but for a certain gentlemanly Joestar. AU (Revised Ending!)
1. Fate's Hiccup

Fates Hiccup

 **Before I begin the story, there are a few things I need to clarify since it will be confusing otherwise. First, the part with Erina saving Jonathan's body and Dio's head is taken from the spin off novel Over Heaven. Second, Jonathan's body not aging is from a personal theory of mine about the Deep Pass Overdrive, which will be elaborated on later since there is too much here already.**

 **Enjoy and be sure to give your honest criticisms, harsh or otherwise.**

 _Chapter One:_

 _Fate's Hiccup_

Erina Joestar's eyes remained shut as the vibrations from the explosion faded away and the gentle splashing of the waves against her steel cocoon took their place. Her breathing still erratic, she slowly opened her eyes to meet the pitch blackness of the velvet interior, her hands still gripping the interior fabric tightly. As she lay there, the faint smell of blood worked its way up her nostrils, reminding her of the tragic cargo she bore with her. The thought of her husband's corpse laying beneath her separated only by three inches of steel and velvet made her choke on her tears. She couldn't cry, she mustn't, not after what his final words were to her.

" _Be happy…Erina."_

A light cooing below her made her sadness fade away almost instantly as she looked down at the barely month old child next to her. Despite the darkness making it almost impossible to see, she smiled and wiped the faint presence of tears from her eyes, hoisting the child in her left arm as she used her right to push the heavy lid open. The morning suns glare hit her vision immediately, causing her to recoil slightly and look back down at the blood red interior of her safe haven. As the pale blue of the sea reflected the rays of the vigorous sun, her mind briefly went back to what had occurred not ten minutes ago. All she had wanted was to live a happy life with the gentleman of her dreams, to hold his deceptively soft hands as they watched their children develop lives of their own. The blame was ready to be set on one man, no, one monster who had destroyed that dream.

Regardless of her anger, she took a deep breath and lay back down in the casket, the mental image of Jonathan still hugging that demon's head below her filled her with many different emotions. The most prominent being anger.

* * *

"Miss Joestar, are you sure you are fine."

"Yes, thank you." She answered, smiling at the sailor whose eyes turned to look at the fancy looking casket behind her.

"Are you sure you wish to throw that back into the ocean? It looks rather valuable and-"

"Yes, I am." She said rather sternly, turning around "Would you please give me moment?"

The seaman opened his mouth to continue, but chose to nod respectfully.

"Of course, just let me know when you are ready."

Erina walked slowly toward the open casket, her eyes locked on the interior as she contemplated her next course of action. While she initially had no idea what manner of beast Dio was, she had caught a glimpse of the fangs in his mouth, telling her that he was a vampire. Knowing this, she bent down so as to grab the edge of the interior. All she had to do was open it, grab his head and toss it into the sea. However this thought crossed lanes with another, which told her to remember Jonathan's love for his adoptive sibling, even in death. This stayed her hand for but a moment as her grip tightened on the interior. A second later and she had opened the second compartment, her hand covering her mouth when she laid eyes on her husband's bloodied form below her. The feeling to vomit was swallowed down along with her sorrow when her eyes landed on the decapitated head still in Jonathans arms. Her shadow loomed over what was left of the blonde vampire and she was tempted to step away and let his head turn to ash right there. But she couldn't, as a part of her foolishly thought that her husband would witness the deed of Dio turning to ash before his eyes and she could not bear the thought of that.

With slow hands and anger in her heart, she bent down and gently moved her husband's hands so as to free the demon's head. Still warm, as if he was still with her, as if he was holding onto the dream they both shared. Her hands held Dio's head, the monster who had taken that dream away from her. His blonde hair felt like the finest silk and his skin was smooth to the touch, all of this betraying everything this man had always been.

"To Hell with you, demon!" she seethed, throwing his head as hard as she could. The instant he touched the sun, his immortal beauty began to turn to dust. Erina watched as his head disintegrated, the smell of burning flesh permeated the air. He was dust before he even touched the ocean.

Whatever regret she felt was too small, as she immediately turned away and situated Jonathan's body in the first compartment, where she had lain just a day prior. And after signaling for the sailors to lower the coffin back into the sea, she could only feel happiness. Now they can both rest in peace.

* * *

" _Jojo."_

Jonathan's eyes opened to the whiteness of his surroundings, confusion taking him as he looked around.

"Hello?"

" _Behind you, Jojo."_

The burly man whirled around, recognizing the voice almost immediately.

"Baron Zeppeli?" he questioned, his eyes seeking the source of the voice. A tapping on his shoulder made him jump slightly, turning to see the familiar mustached man. With a wide smile breaking through his previous frown, Jonathan went to hug his mentor, but found his arms go completely through the man's body. The baron chuckled.

" _It's good to see you too, Jonathan."_ The mustachioed gentleman waved his hand _"Come, let's talk as we walk."_

Jonathan hesitantly nodded, his steps echoing in the white void while the baron's made neither taps nor clacks on the seemingly solid floor.

" _Do you remember what happened before you woke up here?"_ He asked, stopping and turning toward the still confused gentleman. Jonathan put a hand to his chin in thought.

"I believe I was on a ship with…" he paused, trying to recall the memory. When his head flashed with a familiar blonde's smug expression he gasped "Dio!" Suddenly, all the memories came flooding back. Dio's decapitated head, Wang Chan, the ship burning, Erina and the child. He looked up at his former mentor in a panic, who nodded reassuringly.

" _Do not worry Jojo, she is safe."_ He put his hand to the bluenette's shoulder in pride. Another smile crossed Jonathan's lips at that and he sighed.

"That's all I care about, my life be damned." Zeppeli laughed at that, shaking his head as Jonathan tilted his head "What's so funny?"

" _Look at your body, Jojo."_

A poke to the ribs made Jonathan recoil slightly.

" _You are still alive."_ In response, Jonathan's eyes widened and he rubbed his chest _"It appears destiny is not done with you yet, my friend."_

Jonathan immediately reached up to his neck, feeling for the holes Dio's Space Ripper Stingy Eyes left behind. To his astonishment, he felt nothing but the smoothness of his skin.

"B-but how? Dio shot me in the throat, did he not?" he questioned, looking down at his hands. Zeppeli crossed his arms and smiled at his student.

" _Aye, he did. However, his aim was not as true as he wanted it to be."_ He pointed to his own neck _"If he had only aimed a sliver to the left, then you would have most certainly used all your hamon in that final blow."_

Jonathan's mind continued to race with questions and as he opened his mouth to flood his old master with them, the man turned away.

" _Now go, Jojo. Go and fulfill your new destiny."_ His ever present smile stayed as he began to fade away into thin air, making Jonathan panic.

"Master, wait! Please, I need your guidance!" he yelled, reaching out to the fading baron. The mustached man said one last thing but Jonathan could hardly make it out before everything went black.

* * *

 **December 15th, 1938**

"Hey guys, I think I found something!" Daniel yelled as he looked down at the sonar. His declaration caused the other three crew members to rush into the captain's quarters.

"Are you sure?" Andrea asked as she leaned on the overweight man's chair.

"Of course! This baby is genuine German engineering, it's never wrong!" he yelled, jumping out of his seat and sprinting to the bow " Victor, get that crane up and running and Antonio, get in your diving suit and hook that baby up!"

After some complaining from the two men, they did as they were told. Antonio suited up and, after some words of courage, he jumped into the sea and slowly sunk to the bottom. With his helmet light on, he slowly advanced past the many fish and crustaceans that dared cross his path. Eventually, he came upon the supposed treasure; a black as night casket that had been covered with barnacles and algae for who knows how long.

"You're a beautiful sight." He said with smirk on his face as he bent over to inspect the object. He scrubbed some barnacles off the locked hatch and tried to read the letters "D-I-O, Dio huh?" Just then, the cranes hook finally lowered down and he grabbed it, pulling some rope out of his pack and prepared to tie the coffin up. "Thanks for the treasure, Dio."

With a few tight knots here and a few covert twist there, he was finished and got atop the find, shaking the cable as hard as he could. A few seconds later and they both started to rise to the surface. Upon surfacing, the cheers from the other three were almost deafening as he leapt to the ship.

"Great work Antonio!" Daniel said and eagerly watched the black casket lower onto the deck. A loud thump later and the obese captain rubbed his gloved hands all over it. "This thing's airtight too! This asshole was buried with something expensive!"

"He must have been, this things locked tight." Andrea said, poking at the lock with her knife.

"No problem, I saw this coming." Victor said, coming back from the lower levels with a sledge hammer. It took about thirty minutes of swinging and ten minutes of chiseling, but they eventually cracked the lock.

"Feast your eyes, _amigos_!" Daniel said, his breathing short as he slowly opened the casket. Then everything went quiet when he opened it all the way, the calls of nearby seagulls breaking the silence for only a moment. Inside was a tall and very broad muscle man in an old looking, blood stained suit. Strangely, despite the blood, he did not seem to have any injuries.

"Daniel, what are we looking at here?" Victor asked as the chubby man looked over the dead aristocrat looking man.

"Looks like some rich _pendejo_ who died a few days ago." He then began digging in the young man's pockets "Andrea, get over there and check his suit pockets."

She nodded and went to do so, carefully digging around the outside pocket first. The only thing she found was a handkerchief with a little bit of long dried up blood on it.

"Holy shit, look at this ring on 'im!" Daniel exclaimed, holding up the muscular mans huge hand. It looked to be made of the finest silver, seemingly untouched by the passage of time as it was still stainless. Inside the ring was a single, small ruby. Simple and beautiful at the same time.

"Damn, I bet that'll sell for a pretty…cent." Andrea started but stopped as her eyes began to widen in fear "D-D-Daniel! I think he just blinked!"

He laughed in response "You're seeing things! Come on let's-"

Daniel's heart nearly exploded when the supposedly dead man's hand grabbed his own. He looked down at the healthy looking man in terror as the previously thought dead gentleman slowly reopened his eyes. Their eyes met.

"Z-Zeppeli?" he gasped out, reaching up to touch Daniel's face.

Daniel fainted.

 **To Be Continued===**


	2. A Gentleman's Return

**As said last chapter, I have my own theory on the Deep Pass Overdrive Zeppeli performed on Jonathan which is why he didn't age. In short, I believe that it extended Jonathan's lifespan for another one hundred years or so, meaning that he probably would not get a grey hair until at least the year 2000. But hey, that's just my own personal theory, back to the story.**

 **Enjoy and critique.**

* * *

 _Chapter Two:_

 _A Gentleman's Return_

"What the hell are we going to do, Andrea?" Victor whispered, taking subtle glances at the porthole window that showed the bedroom. Inside lay both their captain in his bed and their unconscious stowaway who was previously going to be their "biggest haul yet", according to their loudmouth captain.

"I'm still thinking about it, _pendejo."_ The blonde woman said, pulling out her fifth cigarette that hour and lighting it up. Victor waved the smoke out of his face in frustration.

"Listen, I've been doing this charade with you guys for two months now and we haven't found shit. My families starting to ask questions and I don't want to come back empty handed again." Andrea rolled her eyes and took a huge draw on her cigarette.

"Relax, we'll just snag the ring from that rich boy and drop him back in the sea. Then you'll get a cut of whatever it sells for, capiche?" she then rubbed her excess cigarette ash on his leather, waterproof jacket with a smirk on her face "Now stop being such a bitch and go get it from him."

"W-Why me? Have you seen how huge that guy is? What if he wakes up or-"

"Stop. Being. A bitch." Andrea repeated and proceeded to walk away, leaving Victor to stew in his anger and fear.

"Stupid _perra_." He growled, wiping the ash from his jacket. He opened the door as if he was a father checking on his children, slowly and as quiet as he could. The bedroom was less than ideal, what with its small population of cockroaches and other vermin that would sneak aboard sometimes. The beds did little to alleviate this horrid atmosphere, what with them being barely more comfortable than the wooded floor. On the west side of the room was their blue haired stowaway, sleeping on Antonio's bed. To the north of the room was his captain, who had been passed out now for around an hour. Despite the obvious protest from Antonio, Andrea was by default captain since Daniel was out of commission, so they decided to take him out of the coffin and carry that gigantic man to the bedroom. Good thing they had a gurney, or else that would have been impossible.

Not wanting to disturb their potentially ferocious guest, Vic tiptoed around as many squeaky floorboards as he could. Of course, this turned out to be as hard as it sounded, what with this being an old vessel Daniel inherited from his father ten years ago. After only sounding three squeaks, he was right in front of the muscular young man.

"Easy does it, bluey." He whispered, tongue sticking out of the corner of his lips as his hand inched closer to the ring. Then as if to spite him, that was the moment fate decreed that the gentleman would open his eyes. Vic's hand could not have withdrawn any faster as his heart rate spiked upon his hazel eyes met the dark blue of his guest. Silence pierced the air like an arrow for a painful three seconds.

" _Hola_." He said quicker than he meant to. In response, the blue haired man reached up to his forehead and groaned.

"Goodness, my head is killing me." Then the young man looked back up Vic, his blue eyes holding both caution and confusion. "Who are you?

Vic's tongue froze on the spot, debating whether or not to run out of the room as fast as he could. Instead, he chose to answer.

"My name is V-Victor." He said, taking a step back when the blue haired man sat up in his bed. Instead of leaping at him and snapping his neck or whatever other fantasy his panic addled mind could cook up, the gentleman simply observed his environment.

"Where am I?" he questioned, putting more weight on his foot for a moment, feeling the slight creaks of the wood and hearing the sound of water from the outside "A ship?"

Victor managed to swallow more of his fear and regained a fraction of his composure.

"Yes _amigo_ , just off the coast of Pontevedra on my captain's ship." He pointed to Daniel, who still lay uncurious on the far end of the room "His ship."

"Is he injured?" the muscle-bound man asked almost immediately, making the older man jump.

"No, he just passed out. You waking up the first time scared him stiff." Vic said, noticing the lad's penitent for asking a lot of questions. "Couldn't blame 'im, seeing a man come to life in a coffin would scare any fool."

Upon hearing this, the blue haired lad's eyes widened and he opened his mouth for what Vic guessed was another series of questions. Then, a loud gasp erupted from the gentleman, his eyes going over his suit, then to his ring and then his hand reached for his own throat.

"I-I remember everything now. Dio, the ship –"he then leapt to his feet "-Erina!" he yelled, running to the doorway before he was halted by a pull on the sleeve from Victor.

"Woah, hold on there _idiota_!" he yelled, having to use all of his strength to stop this meat train "Where the hell are you going?"

Jonathan was about to yell about how he needed to help Erina, but then the dream he had where he talked with his later master came to mind, calming him. He had said Erina was alright, did he not? But that left only one question, what had happened? A hand went to his forehead as he recalled his last memory aboard the burning ship. All he could see were the orange flames dancing around him as he looked at his crying wife, holding onto the newborn who had become an orphan just a minute prior. Then he saw Dio's head in his arms, remembering the faint sounds of the vampire yelling before everything went black. Was Dio still alive? Possibly, he had somehow survived their first battle and he was always crafty enough to have a backup plan in case everything failed. A shake of his head dispelled these thoughts; he did not have time to think about that right now.

He turned toward Vic, his eyes filled with conflicts the older man didn't want to delve into.

"Victor, where did you say you found me?"

Being addressed made Victor pause for a moment before he regained his senses.

"Inside some fancy looking coffin, had the word "DIO" engraved on the lock." The moment Jonathan heard that name; his spine sent a chill throughout his whole body.

"A coffin?" he questioned, looking down at the wooded floor. He could recall Dio mentioning a coffin. Did Erina put him inside with her? It's the only way he could explain both his survival and Erina's.

"Yeah, thought you were dead with all that blood on you." Victor said, his fear vanishing more and more as he talked to the young man. "What's your name?"

Jonathan looked back up and smiled at the man, bowing slightly.

"My name is Jonathan Joestar."

* * *

To say that Andrea was angry was an understatement.

"Why the hell did you not get the ring, _idiota_!?" she yelled, Victor shrinking back at the peak of her voice.

"He woke up just as I was about to get it, don't blame it on me!" he yelled back, yet Andrea stood her ground.

"If you hadn't been so damn slow, we would've gotten the ring and been out of here hours ago!"

"You two lovebirds still at it?" Antonio asked, sitting on the counter while bouncing an apple in his hand "I've been talking with that giant by the way, he's a pretty swell fellow."

Andrea walked over and swiped the apple from the blonde man's grip

"Yeah and that "swell" fellow asked Victor for a ride back to the coast." She said, eying the middle aged man as she took a bite out of the apple.

"I don't know what the hell you're so mad about, that guy was inside of a coffin at the bottom of the damned ocean for who knows how long! I think the kid deserves a ride at the very least." Vic said, opening a bottle of beer "Hell, I'd give him the whole damn ship if it was my choice."

"Yeah, come on Andrea. We can find another haul somewhere else." Antonio stated, looking down at the ground "With the way _La Guerra's_ going, I plan on going to America soon anyway."

Andrea sight loudly, tapping her foot in frustration as she pondered her options.

"Alright, fine. We'll drive that _idiota_ to shore and we take off, deal?"

"Deal." Both men said, taking a drink of their beers.

"Victor, is that you?"

All three crew members turned their head toward the familiar voice, a low groan following afterwards.

"Watch your step captain; you're still not fully awake yet." Jonathan said, letting the shorter man hold onto his arm for support as they walked into the mess hall. "Easy, I'll make you some tea." He said as he guided the man to one of the chairs.

"Oh, thank you Victor. Chamomile will be fine."

Jonathan nodded and smiled up at the crew, who all looked at him oddly "He'll be fine when he wakes up all the way."

* * *

"I truly appreciate your help, Daniel. Words cannot express how grateful I am for you saving my life." Jonathan said, extending his hand out for a shake. Daniel took it with both hands and smiled up at the tall gentleman.

"No thanks are necessary lad! Just be careful, I'm sure the fellows who put you in that casket will more than happily put you back in if they see you running about."

Jonathan tilted his head in confusion but refrained from questioning "I'll be fine Daniel, no need to fear."

He said his farewells to the rest of the crew and the gang of treasure hunters soon sailed away, leaving him to stir in his shock when he turned back around to face the city. He had never been to Spain before in his young life, but the architecture here was much different than from back home. The buildings all looked like amalgamations of stone, steel and glass mended together, a far cry from the stonework he had grown accustomed to. It was bizarre, but fascinating at the same time to be look at. He shifted his focus to the number of passerby's who seemed to stare at him. Not only were the buildings different, but the clothing as well. The few women he saw wore what he had come to expect, long dresses and rather huge hats atop their heads. Some however, surprised him with their boldness for wearing skirts that sat a few inches above their knees, making him feel like a lech for looking. The men all seemed to stick to the normal fashion trends from home, wearing a myriad of suits or casual sweaters.

He took the time to inspect his own clothing, a feeling of grief coming over him as he did so. It was the suit his father had bought him for his twentieth birthday just almost a year prior.

"I suppose I should get a change of clothes." He looked around at the nearby buildings "But where would I find some?"

"I can help you there, _amigo_." A young voice said from behind, prompting him to turn around. Sitting on an empty crate was a young boy, no older than thirteen if he had to guess. His cheeks had a dusting of freckles and his eyes shone a mischievous green.

"Who are you, child?" Jonathan inquired, smiling down at the boy. In response, the young teen jumped to his feet and managed to leap over Jonathan's head, crossing his arms in pride when he landed.

"The name's Alvaro, don't you forget it!"


	3. New York's Second Jojo!

**Nothing much to say other than it was nearly a tearjerker to write the last part.  
**

 **Enjoy and critique!**

* * *

 _Chapter Three:_

 _New York's Second Jojo!_

Jonathan looked at the selection of clothing in wonder as Alvaro tried to haggle with the shopkeeper. While he had mentioned to the boy how what little currency he had would more than likely be useless in this country, the caramel colored teen told him not to worry and that he would take care of it. Despite the vagueness of that statement, Jonathan agreed and they went inside.

It was difficult for him to pick what he wanted as they did not have a lot of things in his size, but what little he did find suited him just fine. He hoped Erina would like them, anyway. He picked out a tan, casual suit with a blue tie along with some matching tan slacks. He decided to just keep the shoes he had on and went to the counter with his purchases.

"Good timing Jonathan. Just schmoozed things over with this jackass," Alvaro said, pointing at the angry looking man "Don't bring up exchange rates and we'll be alright." He whispered, making Jonathan raise an eyebrow.

"What do you-"

A quick shove toward the counter shut him up, making him sheepishly apologize for the teen's actions and pay for his things. The man seemed rather happy when Jonathan emptied his small coin purse into his hands.

" _Gracias_." he said, counting the coins eagerly. Before Jonathan could give his own thanks, he was dragged out of the shop by Alvaro and down a couple of shady looking alleys.

"Alright, I think we're in the clear." The young boy said, looking over his shoulder to make sure they were far enough away from the shop.

"Clear from what?" the gentleman asked, prompting the teen to wave him off.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." He replied, making Jonathan's suspicions only grow.

"Why are you helping me, Alvaro? I don't mean to be suspicious, but something is rather odd here." He inquired, making the young teen shrug.

"What? You looked like a guy that needed help is all; you stuck out like a sore thumb and were standing around like a confused puppy. I don't know who wouldn't help you." He said, sticking his hands in his pockets. Suddenly, a loud gasp erupted from Jonathan and he dropped the bag that held his previous clothes, making him stare in the direction of the blue haired man's finger. "What's wrong?"

"What in Heaven's name is that!?" he exclaimed, pointing toward a yellow car heading down the street toward them. Alvaro's eyebrow rose dubiously as he turned toward the shocked looking man.

"It's just a taxi, _amigo_." He deadpanned, the man's expression not changing.

"A taxi?" he asked, his mind racing to try and understand the giant hunk of metal currently heading toward him. He then began to observe his surroundings, seeing more of the taxis, but in different colors than the original and of different shapes and sizes. Sure he had heard of this invention, or at least one that was similar to what he was looking at now, during a meeting his father made him and Dio attend to meet the elites of London. But the one he had seen had only three wheels and was powered by electricity. Not to mention it was slower than a horse and buggy and seemed to only be a trophy the higher class would show off.

His mouth went dry and his spine froze when he realized he hadn't even thought to ask anyone how long he had really been unconscious, as opposed to when he was found by Daniel and his crew. With his neck seeming to creak like a rusty door hinge, he turned toward the perplexed teenager beside him.

"Alvaro, what year is it?"

As he predicted, the boy met him with a look of confusion before answering.

"It's 1938, man. Where have you been, the countryside?"

Upon hearing this, he broke out into a cold sweat and stumbled backward, hitting a brick wall. Fifty years, had it really been that long? As much as he didn't want to believe it, the evidence was staring him right in the face everywhere he dared to look. His hands were shaking, his heart was thumping in his chest and he could feel his face go pale. His bran could not keep up with all the thoughts he tried to register all at once, the most common of all being about his beautiful wife. Where was she now?

Did she go to America after the ship exploded?

Did she head back to Britain?

Was she alive?

The urge to cry was overpowering but he shook his head in defiance, scolding himself for wanting to break down at a time like this. She would not want him to cry and Zeppeli had told him that she was fine in that dream he had. Or was it a vision? Was it even true? It didn't matter, he had to believe she was fine or he would be breaking a very important rule of his gentleman code: A true gentleman must remain resolute and optimistic, even in the face of hardship.

Reminding himself of this gave him the strength to regain his composure and come up with a plan. It was not a sure plan, but it was the best one he could come up with. He had to go to America; he had to believe she was there. One deep breath later and he looked back down at the concerned teenager with a stern expression.

"Alvaro, do you know of a ship that is heading for America?" he asked but it sounded more like a demand.

"Uh, yeah. I was actually planning on stowing away on it later today, now that you mention it. Why?"

Despite the obvious legality issues he had with that, he decided for the first time in his life that it didn't matter.

"Do you know where it is headed exactly, New York perhaps?"

The boy nodded slowly, starting to catch on to his plan.

"Yeah, that's right. You want to tag along?"

Jonathan nodded, picking up the bag of his clothes.

"Yes. Although I am wondering, are your parents alright with this?" he asked, his concern shining through his determination. Alvaro went silent for a moment before nodding.

" _Si,_ they left for America about a month ago and didn't have enough money to take me with them. I've been waiting for this shot for a while."

Jonathan smiled down at the boy and reached down to pat his head.

"You'll see them again; I'll make sure of that." He slung the bag over his shoulder and put his free hand on his hip "Now, let's board that ship." He declared, making the boy smile and pose with him.

"Alright, follow me!"

* * *

Even though the gentleman of the Joestars had convinced himself to go through with this plan, he still could not shake pain of guilt in his chest over breaking the law. It was overbearing and it made him feel nervous, but his body had decided long before his heart did as he crawled into a large crate with the mischievous boy.

"Alright, now we just wait for them to load us up in the ship and we're home free." The boy said, taking a bite of bread he had packed in a medium sized bag along with other supplies. Jonathan's stomach let out a long, deep growl when he saw the food and he chuckled in embarrassment.

"Sorry, I haven't eaten in a while."

"It's fine _amigo_ , here." Alvaro split the small loaf in half and handed it to him. Normally he would have refused politely, but the grumbling of his stomach may attract attention to them if someone listened closely enough, so he took it.

"Thank you, Alvaro."

He quietly said grace and devoured the bread in less than a second, wiping his mouth of crumbs shortly afterwards. He could not imagine his father being too happy with his lack of manners, but the boy just laughed it off.

"So what's your story, Jonathan? What brings a well dressed Brit to a backwater city in Spain?"

Jonathan bit his tongue for a moment, thinking of what he could possibly tell the boy without coming off as insane.

"It's a long, bizarre story Alvaro. I am sure you would not believe me." He replied, looking down at the wooden planks of the crate in remiss. The teen tilted his head in confusion at the answer but decided not to pry.

"Alright, so why do you want to go to America?"

Jonathan looked back up and smiled, happy for the easier question.

"I got separated from my wife for-"he paused "-quite some time. I only now learned of where she might have gone." He explained, Alvaro nodding after he finished.

"Well, happy to hear that."

The box suddenly shook, making both of them pause their breath as footsteps echoed from outside on the docks.

"Alright, this is the last one, should have the same copper wires and shit in it." A man grumbled from outside, his voice reminding Jonathan of Victor's.

"You're not going to make sure?" A second higher pitched voice inquired, being met with a raspberry.

"What, you think this one's going to have a leprechaun or some shit in it, maybe a vampire's coffin?" the deeper voiced man teased, making ghost noises with his mouth.

"Alright, you made your point jackass. Load her up boys."

The box shook even more as a forklift proceeded to pick it up, carrying the box into the interior of the ship before slowly setting it down atop the other boxes. Both stowaways remained silent for another minute before they were sure they were alone.

"We made it." Alvaro whispered, the excitement making him bounce a bit in the tight space. Jonathan smiled and looked at the single hole that provided them both air and light.

"How long will it take before we reach New York?"

At this, Alvaro's expression went a little sour before he answered.

"Well, I timed it when I was eyeing this ship up. It took them two weeks to get back, meaning that it probably will take us a week to get there."

Upon seeing Jonathan's dire expression, he waved his hands reassuringly.

"Hey, don't worry! I just barely had enough money saved up to get enough food and water for both us, as long we ration it." He then reached into the bottom of the bag "But I only had enough for two rolls of toilet paper." The boy said, smiling sheepishly at the sighing man.

"How wearisome."

* * *

 **December 9** **th** **, 1938**

It had been the second hardest week of the young gentleman's life, being only second to his battle with Dio, but the two made it through without being caught and with only half a bottle of water and a loaf of bread to spare. After the ship had docked, they quietly snuck out and jumped into the cold, evening ocean so as to avoid bumping into the dock workers and swam around to the coast. In their weakened state, this was easier said than done.

"We finally made, Jojo!" Alvaro declared through his gasp, his smile being almost as wide as his outstretched arms at the moment. Jonathan looked on in disbelief, the city looking like a beautiful glowing jewel in the middle of the darkest night. Hopefully, if fate favored him once more, he find Erina here and maybe even his stalwart companion Speedwagon.

"It's so beautiful." The tall gentleman said, his hand reaching out to seemingly caress the magnificent sight.

"I know, right?" Alvaro responded, walking up the shore toward the mainland "Well, this is where we part ways Jonathan. I hope you find your wife!"

Jonathan nodded "And I wish you the best of luck in finding your parents, Alvaro. Do not be afraid to come and find me if you need any more help."

With that, the young boy nodded and took off into the city, leaving the gentleman behind to contemplate his next move as he too walked toward the glowing city.

"I'm coming, Erina."

His goal set but his course still muddled with uncertainty, he took to the still busy streets to ask around for guidance. Some did not pay him any mind, dismissing him by saying he smelled, or they just ignored him completely. However, a young woman was kind enough to give him the time of day.

"Yes, I believe Ms. Erina Joestar is staying at that hotel at the moment." The red head said, pointing toward a rather exuberant hotel a few blocks away. Jonathan's smile could not grow any wider as he repeatedly bowed toward the woman.

"Thank you so much madam, I'll repay you someday!" he declared, running until his legs nearly buckled beneath him. He quickly rushed into the hotel when he arrived and questioned the man behind the counter.

"Ah yes, Erina Joestar is currently in room 213."

With another series of thanks, the blue haired man ran up the stairs as if he was floating on air. His mind was still trying to make sense of everything that had happened so far, how he ended up fifty years in the future being the most concerning thought. But right now, that did not matter. He was going to meet with the woman he loved more than anything, who he last saw shrouded in the flames of a burning boat that had been taking them to their honeymoon. He did not care how much time had passed; she would forever be the light in his life.

When he arrived at the door, as much as he wanted to barge in, his manners did not allow him to do so and he slowly knocked and stood back, his heart racing.

"Yo Uncle, someone's at the door!" a voice from inside yelled. In response, an older sounding voice groaned.

"Alright, I'll get it Joseph."

A set of footsteps approached and for a moment, Jonathan thought he recognized the voice but dismissed it. Then he had a more unsettling thought. Was Erina seeing another man? That could explain the other male voices but he was still trying to piece together everything else at the moment, putting that mystery aside for later.

"Lazy boy." The deep voice said, undoing the lock and twisting the knob "Hello, how may I-"

The very air itself went still when the Jonathan's eyes met the older man's. Not even a breath escaped as they analyzed each other, the blue haired gentleman's eyes moving first to a series of bandages wrapped around the man's head to a very prominent scar that started from the man's cheek and went up to the bridge of his nose. It was within that moment that he recognized the man and he breathlessly said his name.

"S-Speedwagon?"

In response, the man backed away, bumping into the wall across from the door as he gasped for air at his name being uttered. Tears made their way down Speedwagons face as he recovered and looked into a pair of eyes he hadn't seen in fifty years as he responded back with shaking lips and tear soaked eyes.

"M-M-Mr. Joestar."

The now aged Speedwagon fainted, falling into the arms of the still shocked gentleman as he tried his best to hold back his own tears.

"Who was it, Uncle?" the voice from earlier called out as another set of footsteps came toward the door. Jonathan looked up and saw the young, muscular man. At first, he thought he was looking into a mirror as the man looked almost exactly like him except with spiky brown hair. The two stared at each other for a while before the younger man got into a fighting stance.

"Who the hell are you? Another dumbass vampire here to kill me!?" he yelled, his anger growing when he saw the passed out Speedwagon in the man's arms "Let him go you piece of shit!" he yelled, pulling Speedwagon to the floor.

"Joseph! I said watch your language!" an older, female voice said from inside. Jonathan's heart raced as he guessed who it was. There was only one person it could have been.

"Stay back granny, some piece of shit hurt Speedwagon!" he then began to breath in, a familiar yellow energy beginning to run up his arm before an umbrella hit him in the head, breaking his focus. He knew hamon as well? Then, was this his…son?

"I said watch your-"

Jonathan's blue eyes grew even wider when met a familiar pair of aged, yet still beautiful lighter blue eyes which held an equal amount of surprise. The staring contest between them did not last as long as the previous one with Speedwagon, but it still felt like an eternity as they danced with one another in their eyes.

"E-Erina, is that you?" he asked, his held back tears releasing themselves at the sight of his older wife. The woman's eyes filled with an equal amount of sadness and joy as she covered her mouth, one word being the only thing that left her lips.

"Jonathan?"

The older woman rushed passed the other man who previously had his arms out to protect her and she jumped into Jonathan's arms.

The hotel hall filled with years of built up sobs from both parties, not wanting to part for even a second, lest the other disappeared forever.


	4. New York's Second Jojo! (2)

**Forgive me if the chapter after this one takes a while, college is picking back up again soon and I will not have as much time to write. Plus I need to refresh my memory on Battle Tendency a bit while I'm at it.**

 **Thank you for reading and reviewing.**

* * *

 _Chapter Four:_

 _New York's Second Jojo! (2)_

"OH MY GOD!"

Joseph yelled, his hands cupping his cheeks as he looked from the bathroom, to his grandmother, his passed out uncle on the bed and back to the bathroom again "You're telling me that that guy is my dead grandfather!?" He exclaimed, his eyes almost bursting out of his head.

Erina sniffled, using a tissue to wipe her tears.

"I can hardly believe it myself, Joseph. But yes, that is Jonathan Joestar. Your grandfather." She choked back a sob and wiped her face again "My husband."

Joseph's mind continued to race around the track of understanding but always hit potholes of implausibility and confusion.

"B-But how? You and Speedwagon told me a few months ago what happened! Dio, the ship blowing up, you escaping!"

Erina nodded at each word he said.

"Yes, it's true. All of it." She blew her nose and looked up at the pacing Joseph.

"But how is he still so young?" he asked but then hit himself in the head, rolling his eyes "Well duh, he was a hamon user. But still, Straizo was almost the same age as him and he had at least a few grey hairs by this time!"

The elderly blonde woman shook her head, looking down at the still unconscious Speedwagon lying next to her.

"I don't know, dear." She then smiled as she looked toward the bathroom "He looks exactly as he did, all those years ago."

Joseph paced around some more before sitting down in the nearby chair, grasping his head with his hands. A second later, he sat up more alert than before.

"You don't think he's a vampire, do you?" he rushed over to inspect his grandmother's neck for any marks "He didn't bite you, did he?"

She groaned and pushed his hands away.

"No, he didn't bite me, honey. I would have felt it if he did."

Joseph rubbed his chin in thought and continued to pace around the room, the sound of the shower seeming to act as a timer to his thoughts. He looked back over to his grandmother, seeing her slowly open the bag that the man who might be his grandfather brought in. She then gasped when she saw what was inside, almost dropping it in her shock.

"It's the suit he wore during our honeymoon." She muttered, her hand covering her mouth as she unfolded it. Her tears nearly escaped again when she saw the long dried out blood on the collar, it giving her nightmarish flashbacks to that fateful and tragic night "The suit he wore when I buried him in the sea."

"Granny, are you alright?" Joseph asked, walking over to her. Erina nodded and quickly folded the suit up, placing it in its original bag.

"Yes, I'm more than alright Joesph." She said, finally letting her tears flow free "The man I love, your grandfather, is no longer at the bottom of the ocean, haunting me in my nightmares or holding me in my dreams." She then shook her head and wiped her eyes again; welcoming a gentle hug from her grandson.

"He is with us once again."

* * *

Jonathan stared up at the shower head, the warm water gently hitting his face and soaking the rest of his body. It had taken him a few minutes, but he had finally gotten the hang of how this "shower" worked, as Erina called it. He almost felt like a caveman who had slept for a century and had only been awaken moments ago as he stared at the sponge he had used to clean himself with. It was more than a little strange to him, he had to admit, but much easier than he thought it would be.

He then turned the knob and was confused when it didn't shut off right away, that was how Erina had done it, right? Then every hair on his body stood on end when the water began to get significantly colder.

"Ah, cold!" He yelled, turning the knob all the way to the right. This finally made the water shut off, making him sigh in relief.

"How wearisome," he said, looking at the whole of the shower in wonder "Yet still fascinating."

He then stepped out of the shower and grabbed the nearby towel, drying himself before tying it around his waist. When he stepped in front of the large mirror, he froze when his eyes locked onto two, small circular scars on each side of his neck. He slowly reached up to touch them, feeling the coarse skin over the past wounds.

"Dio…" He whispered, looking down at the sink in thought. What happened those two nights would be with him until he died, the night his father died and the night of his honeymoon, both involving his adoptive brother turned horrid monster. Jonathan closed his eyes and shook his head. No, he would no longer look back on the past. Everything he ever wanted was separated from him by just a single door: his wife and his best friend. But what of the other lad, was that his son? The boy knew hamon, so it is a natural assumption. No, if Erina had been with child when he last saw her, then the boy should be at least fifty.

With a short sigh, he dismissed these thoughts in favor of getting dressed. He smiled when he saw that Erina had been kind enough to provide another set of clothes for him, a pair of jeans and a light blue sweater along with a pair of loafers.

He quickly got dressed and took a deep breath when he grabbed the door knob, feeling a slight ting of fear that everything he had experienced this past half hour was some sort of cruel dream he was having, or maybe even his afterlife, and that when he opened the door all of that would disappear.

When he finally worked up the courage to turn the knob, he didn't let this thought torment him any longer as he saw his still beautiful wife waiting for him on the bed along with the young brown haired man.

"How do you like your clothes?" Erina asked, her hands clasped together as she awaited his answer. He chuckled.

"They're wonderful dear, thank you so much."

His eyes moved to each individual in the room, lingering mostly on the young man who refused to meet his gaze. This made him frown before his eyes bolted toward a stirring, groaning Speedwagon.

"Oh dear lord, my head injury must be getting to me. I swore I just saw-" He moved his head from a seated and still suspicious Joseph to a smiling Jonathan, making his heart almost stop "J-Jonathan!?"

"It's been a long time, Speedwagon." He said, but then looked up to ceiling "For me though, it feels like only hours since I've seen either of you."

The previously bed ridden old man jumped to his feet and nearly tackled the six foot four gentleman with a tight hug, crying into his chest.

"We've dreamed of this day for ages, Mr Joestar, we had no idea it would actually come true!" he sobbed, Jonathan lightly tapping his back in comfort "You're back, it's such a bloody miracle!" he cried out again, making Jonathan chuckle. The older man pulled away finally, wiping his tears as best he could. "How did you do it Jonathan, did God himself grant you a pardon?"

Jonathan chuckled and placed a hand on his old friend's shoulder "It certainly feels that way," he then paused "but I had a vision where I talked to Zeppeli, he told me that fate was not done with me yet." He then put a hand to his head, rubbing his hair "At least, that's what I recall." Speedwagon smiled and shook his head.

"Even in death, that old baron's looking out for you." He said, his eyes casually wondering over to Joseph, who looked slightly less hostile than before, making him gasp "Oh right! Jonathan, meet your grandson: Joseph Joestar."

The two similarly built men's eyes met, Joseph finally getting out of his chair and looking the gentleman over from head to toe. Jonathan could sense the distrust that lurked within his descendent and he could not blame the boy one bit. If his father suddenly showed up at his doorstep alive and well, he would be more than a little bit suspicious. With everything he's been through though, it would only be the third strangest thing he's ever witnessed.

"He's a bit more stubborn and crazy than you are, but he still has your spirit and compassion, Mr. Joestar." Speedwagon said, smirking when the young brown haired man glared at him. Jonathan nodded and extended a hand.

"It's an honor to meet you, Joseph Joestar."

An awkward silence followed as the young man kept his head down, seeming to contemplate his next move as he stared at the offered hand of his grandfather. Jonathan said nothing as his smile shifted to a frown and just as he was about to apologize, he was suddenly engulfed in a tight hug by the young man, his eyes widening at the sudden gesture. Soon he returned the hug, hearing a few sniffles come from the man as he rubbed his back.

"Sorry, sorry." Joseph said, pulling out the hug and wiping his eyes quickly "Guess I let my emotions get to me." He said as took a breath to regain his composure, grabbing Jonathan's hand and shaking it "It's great to meet you too, Jonathan Joestar."

Speedwagon could not contain his joy as he witnessed this scene. This was almost like something out of his dream journal rather than anything resembling the cold, ruthless reality he had endured over the past few months. Then the rain cloud that would obstruct the previous sunny day announced its forgotten presence when his smile turned into a determined frown. He had almost forgotten about his and Joseph's flight to Rome tomorrow in order to meet with the scientist about the three Pillar Men found there.

But now, with the seemingly invincible Jonathan Joestar back from the dead? Things were looking much less grim when it came time to face them.

"So tell me, did you really kill Jack the Ripper?" Joseph asked, earning a confused look from his grandfather. Before an answer could come, Speedwagon cleared his throat rather loudly.

"As much as I would love to speak with Mr. Joestar all night, we mustn't forget tomorrow's flight, Joseph."

Joseph groaned and collapsed into his chair, rubbing his forehead.

"Oh yes, I had almost forgotten about that. Have to wake up at five, was it?" A confirming nod from Speedwagon made him groan again "Damn it all."

"Pardon me, but flight?" Jonathan questioned but then shook his head, smiling "Amazing what fifty years of human progress can achieve."

Speedwagon then donned his new hat, pulling the brim over his eyes as he looked over at his old friend.

"Yes, well I am afraid that if we don't stop our current threat, humanity could very well go extinct within the next year."

Jonathan's eyes widened and his heart sank into his chest. No, he couldn't mean…

"Is it Dio? Is Dio still alive?" he asked, a cold sweat forming on his face as he knees turned to jelly. A shake of the head from Erina calmed him slightly.

"No, I made sure of that." She said, her hand forming into a fist as the glare from the light hid her eyes behind her spectacles. Her action stirred more questions that Jonathan once again had to bury.

"We're dealing with something far worse than any two bit vampire," Joseph said, getting up from his chair and leaning against the armoire "We're fighting _their_ vampires: The Pillar Men."

"The Pillar Men?" Jonathan asked, looking to Speedwagon for elaboration. He was more than willing to explain, thankfully.

"Yes, they are much stronger than Dio ever was, for they were the creators of the stone mask." He replied, walking over and putting his hand on the stunned Jonathan's shoulder "Which is why we need your help, Mr. Joestar. I believe with your help, we'll end this threat before it even begins. Joseph is good, Caesar is great and you are astounding. Please consider coming with us tomorrow, I beg of you."

A long pause followed, Jonathan walking slowly over toward the window, giving him a clear view of the city below. All of the car headlights blended perfectly with the building lights and street lamp, almost looking like mosaic piece of art as it all blurred together with his thoughts.

Even after fifty years, even after everything he had sacrificed to stop Dio, after everything Erina and Speedwagon went through after his "death", it was not enough to sate the hunger of evil. His selfishness was begging him to just forget everything and just spend the rest of his life with Erina, but just one look at her concerned reflection in the window gave him the answer to that fantasy, a resounding refusal that would berate him if he even considered it. He then looked down at his open right palm, a small spark of familiar energy dancing in his hand, making him chuckle to himself. Even Zeppeli was egging him on to accept, it seemed. With a small sigh, he turned back around, a dutiful smile on his face as he met the eyes of his best friend and his eager looking grandson.

"Alright, tomorrow we fly to Rome!"


	5. The Fog of the Past

**Read up and watched some Battle Tendency so I think I'm ready to continue. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing, it really gives me the inspiration I need.**

 **For those who are skeptical, I will do my best to avoid having this story become "Battle Tendency, oh and Jonathan is there too" so expect some things to change with the original material. Maybe something minor, maybe something drastic, but like Mr. Araki himself, I do not think that far ahead.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Chapter Five:_

 _The Fog of the Past_

Jonathan Joestar's eyes slowly opened, meeting the beige ceiling of the hotel. He winced as the pain from sleeping on floor asserted its presence from last night, making him groan as he sat up. His eyes went to a snoring Joseph on the chair, making him smile as he then looked at the sleeping Speedwagon on the couch. Both his best friend and Erina had begged Jonathan to sleep on the bed, saying how they didn't want to disrespect him by having him sleep on the floor, despite it being his wish to do so. After some more harmless arguing, they finally agreed to his request and with Joseph's final offer of the chair, he finally managed to get to sleep.

After making sure he didn't step on any squeaky floorboards, he stretched his body and looked over to the bed, his eyes widening when he saw that it was empty. He looked to the bathroom and seen that the door was open, making him confused.

"Erina?" he whispered, looking all around the room before he decided to go into the hall. At the very end of the hall was an open pair of glass doors that led out to a baloney, where he saw a familiar woman dressed in white staring into the distance. A gentle smile crossed his face as he slowly came up behind her, not wanting to scare her "The sunrise is beautiful, is it not?"

Despite his efforts not to frighten her, she still jumped at the sound of his voice, turning to face him afterward.

"Oh, it's just you Jonathan." She turned back to face the sun kissed city, admiring the view as a pair of muscular hands landed on her shoulders "Yes, it's amazing."

The two sat in silence, taking in the fresh air and the sounds of the early traffic as Jonathan pondered what to say next, his heart begging him to say something.

"I'm sorry, Erina. I-"

"You don't need to apologize, Jonathan." She interrupted, turning around to take his gentle hands into her own "You are back in my life and that is all that matters to me now."

The blonde woman leaned her head into his chest, closing her eyes as she listened to his heartbeat, the rhythm bringing her comfort and almost soothing her back to sleep before Jonathan gasped in remembrance.

"Erina, Speedwagon said Joseph was our grandson, did he not?" he asked, earning a slow nod from her as she kept her ear to his chest "Then, where is our child?"

A long, merciless stretch of silence followed this question, suffocating Jonathan enough to where he was about to apologize for his rudeness. However, Erina spoke first.

"His name was George Joestar II, after your wonderful father you told me so much about; I thought you would like the name." she paused, taking a shaky breath "He joined the air force during the first world war and encountered a servant of Dio's. Then he…"

The silence that followed was more than enough to cut Jonathan down to the bone. His throat stung with a horrid mixture of sadness and guilt, the whimpers Erina made into his chest only hurting him more. After barely managing to swallow his tears, he wrapped his arms around his older wife, holding her close as she continued to weep into his chest.

"I'm so sorry Erina, if only I were there I could've..." he said, closing his eyes as a wave of self loathing passed through his body, making it harder to hold back the urge to cry. A single, soft hand to his cheek made him open his eyes, seeing Erina looking up at him with wet eyes and a soft smile.

"Don't blame yourself Jonathan, he would hate it if you pondered the past." She rose to her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek "All we can do now is look to the future and cherish what we have now."

The tall man sniffled and nodded, taking her hand into his own as he looked into her eyes.

"Thank you, Erina. I'll always cherish you." Jonathan said, feeling bolder as he slowly leaned closer, his eyes looking at her lips. Erina's eyes widened and she pulled back slightly.

"We can't, Jonathan. Look at me, I'm old and wrinkly. You're still as handsome as the day of our wedding." She said, looking down at the ground in embarrassment. His hand grabbed her chin and lightly pulled her face back up, grinning at her.

"You're still as beautiful as the day we met, Erina." He said, gently moving a string of hair out of her face "Time is never going to change that."

Erina gasped lightly, turning her head away from him again as she lightly chuckled.

"You always were one for corny lines." She said, making her husband laugh as well.

"Yes, call it a bad habit if you will." He said with a wink, making her giggle.

The couple's eyes met again and they inched closer to one another, time seeming to slow to a snail's pace as their eyes shut in preparation, their hearts beating faster and faster as inches became centimeters. Then their lips met, as every dream Erina had dared to dream came true.

And for the first time in fifty years, she was truly happy.

* * *

 **December 21** **st**

 **Rome, Italy**

"How was your first flight, Jojo?" Speedwagon asked, waiting at the entrance to the airport as a shaky legged Jonathan hobbled out.

"Amazing, astounding even!" he said, groaning a bit afterward as he leaned on his friend to regain his balance "But slightly nauseating, I must admit."

A round of laughter came from Joseph, who had just finished grabbing their luggage and he slapped his relative on the back.

"Don't worry gramps, that's what my first time was like too." He then looked toward Speedwagon "Well, guess I'll go find that restaurant Stroheim mentioned, I'm starving!" he said, getting a confirmation nod from Speedwagon.

"Alright, we'll meet you there shortly."

After an exchange of waves from both of the older men, the young man walked off with a map in hand, mumbling to himself about pasta.

"I have to say, I'm quite peckish myself. I always wanted to sample some Italian food." Jonathan said, earning a laugh from Speedwagon.

"Me as well, but that is not the only reason we are going there. We're supposed to meet up with a young man named Caesar." He explained, Jonathan nodding afterwards.

"You mentioned him last night, is he a hamon user as well?"

"Yes, and this may surprise you: he is the grandson of William Zeppeli."

Jonathan gasped and stopped in his tracks, his eyes moving down the pavement in sadness. A myriad of thoughts went through his mind as he raised his hand, the aura of hamon gathering slowly in his palm as he breathed in. He had almost forgotten what the old master had told him, about abandoning his family in order to better his training. A twinge of guilt could not be fought back as he thought of everything the boy would say to him if he heard of his grandfather's death; he could hear the shouts of blame and the cries of anger all being directed at him, causing him to ball his hand into a fist.

"Oi, Jonathan, you alright?" Speedwagon asked worryingly, coming back down the street. Jonathan awoke from his thoughts and blinked them away, looking back up Speedwagon with a worried expression.

"That boy, does he know about…"

Speedwagon lowered his hat over his eyes and sighed, realizing that he almost forgotten about that in his excitement.

"Yes, he does." He then walked over to the forlorn Jonathan and placed a hand on his shoulder "Don't worry Mr. Joestar, I'm sure he'll understand if he hears it from you."

The blue haired man nodded slightly, deciding to put the subject on hold as they walked down the street. Speedwagon pulled a watch out of his pocket and began to look around.

"Well, I guess it's about time we called that restaurant. Joseph's probably already pigging out by now." He said, Jonathan's stomach growling slightly at the mention of food. The pair found a clothing shop with a phone and called, arranging to meet the duo of hamon users in front of the fountain near the restaurant. With a sigh, the scarred old man hung up the phone and headed for the door.

"Sounds like the two of them are getting along already."

The duo took a short detour through the market place, Jonathan's eyes wondering to every building and piece of merchandise on display, every piece of fruit and clothing looking absolutely alluring to his empty coin purse and stomach.

"Oh goodness, are you hungry Jojo? I almost forgot that you haven't eaten since the last night of the flight." Speedwagon asked, digging around his pockets "I'll but you something if you wish."

Jonathan held his hand up in refusal, shaking his head "It's quite alright Speedwagon, we shall eat later, don't mind me." He said with a smile but Speedwagon opened his mouth to offer again, stopping only when he heard shouting a few blocks away.

"Oh damn it all." Speedwagon sighed, signaling for them both to hurry up.

"Pretty boy!"

"Uncivilized ape!"

Sitting on opposing ends of the white, beautiful fountain was Joseph and a blonde young man that Jonathan guessed was Caesar. A twinge of nervousness overtook him as he approached, but he fought through the urge to turn around and kept walking as Speedwagon sat between the two.

"That's enough, both of you!" he shouted, both young men halting their insults for the time being "I brought you two together in the hopes that you would work together, not fight over petty nonsense!"

"He started it with his cavity inducing sweet talk." Joseph said, crossing his arms in defiance. Caesar had a retort ready but stopped when he laid eyes on the gentleman Joestar. His mouth slowly shut as the two locked eyes, Jonathan feeling the mixture of rage and confusion that simmered within the young man. Joseph growled at being ignored.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

The headband wearing young man ignored the yell and got to his feet, watching as the gentleman Joestar walked closer to him.

"There's no way." He mumbled to himself, the blue haired man stopping short just a few feet in front of him. The two continued to stare at one another, both pairs of eyes containing different emotions "You are Jonathan Joestar, correct?"

The blue haired man nodded.

"And how, pray tell, are you standing here while my own grandfather remains dead?" he asked, his tone betraying his bubbling anger. Jonathan did not speak as he looked down at the ground for a moment, contemplating.

"I was fortunate, that is all."

"And tell me this, was my grandfather fortunate when he met you!?" Caesar yelled, making Jonathan close his eyes and wince.

"Hey, don't talk to my grandfather like that!" Joseph yelled, getting up and stomping toward the duo. Jonathan held his hand up, stopping the trickster in his tracks.

"He gave his life to save mine, something I will forever regret. If I would have it any other way, I would have let myself die in his place."

"You're damn right you would have." Caesar spat, his eyes narrowing at the gentleman who didn't budge an inch at his words "If you hadn't been such a coward, he wouldn't have died!"

"That's enough Caeser!" Speedwagon yelled, getting in between the two men.

"You're damn right it is!" Joseph yelled, cracking his knuckles as he walked over to the trio "Stand aside Speedwagon, I'll lay this arrogant bastard out like a rug!"

Caesar and Jonathan continued to stare, none of them moving an inch until the blonde man looked over at Joseph and smirked.

"Fine, I shall get revenge on the grandfather by humiliating his grandson." He said, turning away from the gentleman "But just so we're clear, we are not done here."

"Wait, there doesn't need to be any violence, let's just-"

"Yeah, didn't you hear him Caesar? Don't be too violent so I can kick your ass faster!" Joseph said, undoing his bowtie and throwing it at his opponent's feet.

"My thoughts exactly, you worm!" the blonde man yelled, leaping high into the air as Jonathan took a step forward to try and stop the two, but was halted by Speedwagon's hand on his shoulder.

"Wait, Mr. Joestar, let them spar. It'll be good for Joseph."

Jonathan looked back at the pair and sighed, relaxing his tense muscles as he looked up a the seemingly floating Caesar.

"Observe, Jonathan Joestar, this is what awaits you!"

Caesar took a deep breath, his hands suddenly becoming coated in clear, reflective film as he spread his arms "Bubble barrier!"

Joseph, already leaping up to meet him, was caught off guard by the massive bubble that suddenly erupted from the blonde hamon user's hands.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed, not acting fast enough before he was trapped inside of the huge bubble.

"W-what in the world?" Jonathan asked, wide eyed "What breed of hamon is this?"

"I always keep a layer of soap on my body, letting me use and master my hamon bubbles!"He said, finally beginning to fall back to the ground. Joseph smirked.

"Your next line is: "That'll teach you to mess with a Zeppeli, worm!" right?"

"That'll teach you to mess with a Zeppeli, worm!" he yelled, gasping afterward as he landed and found his feet slipping from beneath him as he fell to the ground, dazing him for a moment. "What in the…?" he questioned, looking down to see Joseph's bowtie had somehow tied his feet together. Joseph managed to break free from the bubble after Caesar had lost his focus.

Jonathan saw this display and put a finger to his chin "Amazing, how did he do that?"

"Oops, guess someone didn't look where they were landing." Joseph taunted, laughing afterwards. Caesar narrowed his eyes and huffed, using his hamon to fry the bowtie as he got to his feet and turned away from them.

"Know this, Joestars, I am only doing this for the sake of my family's legacy." He stated, looking over his shoulder and locking eyes with Jonathan. The two looked at each other for but a moment until the blonde man continued his walk, gesturing for them to follow.

With a weary sigh, Speedwagon walked behind the two Joestars as they tried to catch up the lone Zeppeli.

"What a day."


	6. An Evil 2,000 Years Dormant! (1)

**Thank you all for being patient. College is back in swing so the next chapter will be delayed a bit longer. Also, forgive me if you find this chapter too "copy paste" compared to the original story, I simply did not see any way things could divulge without grasping for straws.**

 **In any case, enjoy.**

* * *

 _Chapter Six:_

 _An Evil 2,000 Years Dormant! (1)_

"Hey, Caesar! I'm talking to you!"

Caesar gasped lightly and blinked back into reality, turning toward a sneering Joseph Joestar.

"What do you want, Joestar?" he asked, venom trailing every word. Hearing this, Joseph waved his hand, a deck of cards appearing in his palm as he smirked.

"Just thinking you might want to play a little game, maybe it'll stop you from staring a hole into my grand dad's head." He said, throwing a card toward the frowning blonde. Without Joseph knowing, Caesar checked the mirror on his shoe and saw something peculiar with the tricky brunette's sleeve as he dealt the cards.

"Deal the cards right, Jojo." He said, earning an exaggerated look of surprise from Joseph.

"Whatever could you mean by-"

Suddenly, his wrist was grabbed mid-deal by an angry looking Caesar, causing the cards he had hidden up his sleeve to fall out one by one.

"Oops, guess that one was easy to see through." Joseph said, sticking his tongue out. Caesar groaned and sat back down.

"Pathetic, you can't defeat me at anything without cheating." He said, gasping when his foot was grabbed.

"Oh yeah? Says the guy with a mirror on his shoe!"

"Would you two stop fighting!?" Speedwagon yelled, causing the two men to halt their shouting and turn away from each other. From the kitchen came Jonathan, with a platter of four steaming tea cups in hand.

"Here you are, maybe some tea will calm everyone's nerves." He said, passing everyone a cup "I hope you all enjoy it, it's my father's recipe."

Joseph slowly picked the cup up, taking in the scent. He then slowly took a sip of the still hot liquid, letting it dance on his tongue before he widened his eyes in surprise.

"Wow, I've never been much of tea guy but this stuff is great!" he said, taking a few more quick sips. Speedwagon took a small drink as well while Caesar begrudgingly followed suit.

"Marvelous Mr. Joestar, simply marvelous." His scarred friend said, looking over at a sipping Caesar.

"A little too lemony for my taste, but it's rather good aside from that." The blonde young man said, earning a smile from Jonathan. This smile was shot down when Caesar looked back up at him under his brow. Speedwagon cleared his throat, putting his hat back on.

"We've been here for eight hours now Caesar, what are we waiting for?" he asked, causing Caesar to look up at the clock and sigh.

"Yeah, what the hell are we waiting for anyway?" Joseph pondered, his question begging to be asked again when Caesar got up from his seat to look out the window, his ears perking up.

"Ah, there he is." The Italian blonde said, smirking as everyone else gathered at the window when a previously loud car engine settled into a low purr before a set a brakes squealed the vehicle to a stop.

"What the hell is a German soldier doing here!?" Joseph exclaimed, earning a confused look from Jonathan as his eyes moved down to the smiling, driver giving them a strange hand signal.

"Who do you think guards the Pillar Men? He shall get us in there no problem; just behave yourself, Joestar rats."

With Caesar heading to the door and his grandson and his best friend cautiously following, he tossed his confusion in his nearly full bin of questions. Luckily, when he voiced his question to Speedwagon as they got into the car, he was more than happy to oblige with an explanation that made Jonathan sigh in sorrow.

"Even in an age as advanced as this, we still get into meaningless wars." Speedwagon said, blinking as they passed a street lamp "The world needs more people like you Mr. Joestar, now more than ever, to show them that the old righteous ideals didn't die at the turn of the century."

Jonathan smiled at the old man, chuckling to himself "Thank you Speedwagon," he turned to a frustrated looking Joseph who looked like he was on the cusp of a great idea but every second it faded out of his grasp "But I feel as if the world would have went on just fine without me."

The soldier at the wheel, named Mark, was a rather nice fellow who seemed to have a friendship with Caesar as the two talked about the soldier getting married with mirthful smiles. Jonathan eyed the headband Caesar wore; noticing that the pattern was almost similar to the one William had wore on his hat. It was perhaps in poor taste that he began to compare the two descendents, noticing the contrast before the comparisons. Will was a rather strict, yet kind old gentleman who always maintained a sense of calm authority. Caesar seemed like the complete opposite, hot headed and somewhat arrogant. It was typical for family to be different, as he had noticed with his clever yet boisterous grandson, but it was still odd how much things had changed in his absence. He turned to look at his own descendent, noticing that the frustration that had previously consumed his being had turned to a realization as a smirk crossed the young man's face.

"Joseph?"

The brown haired trickster quickly turned his head at the mention of his name, smiling when he saw it was his grandfather.

"Yeah, gramps?"

"Would you mind telling me about what you did earlier?" he asked, a raised eyebrow making him elaborate "During your battle Caesar, with your bowtie and the predicting what he was going to say."

"Oh that!" he exclaimed and moved his eyes to Caesar, his smile turning to a cocky smirk "If you liked that, then what I've got in store next for that show off is going to blow your mind."

Jonathan tilted his head in confusion and was about to point out the avoidance of his question, but the car's sudden stop caused everyone to rocket forward in their seats. After everyone had recovered and voiced their swears, particularly Joseph, Mark nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oops, overshot it a little."

* * *

The fivesome got out of the car as Mark made sure they were not followed, guiding them toward an entrance that looked rather familiar to him, as if he had seen in it a textbook somewhere long ago. And before he could voice this, the party of three hamon users, the german soldier and Speedwagon were standing before the famous Bocca della Verità, also known as The Mouth of Truth.

Mark inspected the famous piece of history for a moment before he grabbed it by its upper lip and began to casually open it like a slider door, making everyone besides Caesar and the aforementioned soldier gasp.

"W-What in the blazes?" Jonathan questioned, looking around to make sure that they were indeed in the real chamber of the mask and not some stage play. Speedwagon pinched the brim of his hat and shook his head.

"I know it should, but this doesn't surprise me in the least. The famous Mouth of Truth was a secret passage this whole time!"

With the click of his flashlight, Mark waved for everyone to follow him as the shock of the reveal wore off. Thus began the slow descent down the long flight of stone steps, the only source of light being the small torches on the wall and Mark's flashlight with the only sounds being their echoing footsteps. Speedwagon's clearing of the throat made almost everyone jump before asking.

"Caesar, I must ask, what effects have your hamon had on the sleeping Pillar Men." He inquired, making the headband wearing man cross his arms.

"Hamon only works on the living; it would be a waste to sully it on mere stone. Besides, we cannot do anything if they are not alive." He said, causing Jonathan to just now realize that he barely knew anything about these new foes. He was prepared to question Caesar, but he knew of the venom the young man was saving up just for him and he didn't want to trouble his aged friend more than he had today.

"Joseph, would you mind filling me in on these Pillar Men? I am still in the dark, I'm afraid."

Joseph shrugged

"I hardly know a thing about them myself gramps; just know that they're tougher than a vampire and twice as durable. Plus they're ancient beings that have slept for a long while or something like that."

Jonathan nodded slowly, sighing afterwards. Well it was better than nothing he guessed. He put a finger to his chin and slowly began to remember Speedwagon mentioning something about them creating the stone mask? The second he recalled this, he felt an emotion he would usually scold himself for daring to contemplate as a gentleman but it overpowered his sense of reason as he clenched his fist. Rage. It was one he had not felt in some time, not since his then thought final battle with Dio. However this rage was greater, building more and more as he began to realize that these creatures were the sole reason for everything that had happened in his young adult life. Dio's turn, the deaths of so many friends and innocent people and it ate away at him, only snapping back to his senses when he felt a hand grasp his shoulder, stopping him from stepping deeper into the darkness.

"Mr. Joestar, are you alright?"

The blue haired hero blinked a few times before shaking his head to regain his senses, nodding afterwards.

"Yes, I am fine. Thank you Speedwagon." He answered, his tone of voice hinting to his friend that he obviously was not. However he closed his prepared mouth and focused his attention back to the stairs just as they came upon the final stretch of stone, Joseph letting out a sarcastic whistle when they reached their destination.

"Wow, you German's sure do know how to guard something incredibly dangerous." He said, looking about the dark, empty room for any sign of life "Hello!? Anybody here?"

"Hush your blabbering, imbecile." Caesar seethed as Mark took a step forward, shining his light around the room.

"No, he's right, a whole team is supposed to be here. Something's wrong."

Jonathan furrowed his brow and darted his eyes across the room, following the beam of light from the fascinating invention Speedwagon and Joseph had told him about, among many others, on their flight over to Italy.

"Ah damn it; I think I stepped in something!" Joseph yelled, recoiling his foot from the ground in disgust. Jonathan turned to look as Mark aimed his beam where the brown haired man had stepped.

What his light revealed made Jonathan's spine freeze and his eyes bulge and it only got worse when Mark's light followed the trail of death. Scattered all throughout the room was a daisy chain of soldiers connected by their forcibly fused hands, looking like they had had everything drained from them as they all looked like a pile of skin and clothes. The strange, yet more horrifying, part to Jonathan was the fact that only one had a hole through their head, meaning that whatever did this drained them all simultaneously.

"W-what in the world?" Joseph asked before his grandfather did.

"The husk of dead soldiers." Caesar growled out, looking around for the killers as Mark' horrified gasp echoed throughout the room.

"What the hell happened to them, they're all dead!" the blonde soldier asked, his legs shaking and his pulse gaining speed as he let out a scream, turning to run and throwing the flashlight away.

"Mark, stop!" Jonathan yelled as he extended his arm, managing to find his voice "Whoever did this could still be around!"

The young man either didn't listen or didn't hear him as he retreated further into the darkness. Just then, through the gathering dust, three huge shadowed figures emerged slowly from the opposite end of the room, right in front of the terrified soldier.

"What is that!?" Joseph asked, voicing everyone's thoughts as the shadows moved closer to Mark. Speedwagon nearly soiled himself when he got a full view of the murderers.

"I-I can't believe it, they're all alive!" he screamed, fighting every fiber in his being that told him to run.

"Mark, get out there now!" a terrified Caesar yelled as one of the three giant man like monsters walked closer and closer to the scared soldier, who was too numb from fear to move. Jonathan took a quick, deep breath and took off toward Mark, the young man just inches away from the towering shadow. A bewildered Caesar and a scared Joseph followed close behind.

"Hold up grandpa, we can't get to him in time!" Joseph was about to yell, but his words didn't even make it up his throat as he saw his ancestor extend his right arm forward as he was a few feet away from the now crying young man.

"Zoom punch!" he yelled, feeling every nerve in his right arm go numb as the limb extended way past its limitations. Every second it took his arm to extend toward the shoulder of the young man was painful to him as what he assumed was one of the Pillar Men had now emerged from the dust, alongside two other behemoths who were surely three heads taller than him. Strangely, yet eerily, the monster did not even seem to acknowledge the much shorter man before him, in fact, he didn't seem to see anyone else in the room as he kept his eyes locked onto the stairs that lead out into the city.

That was until his eyes connected, very briefly, with Jonathan's fierce, determined gaze as his hand finally landed on Mark's shoulder.

"Mark!" Caesar yelled, Jonathan's arm finally retracting to its normal length, bringing the German to the ground and into the blue haired man's arms.

It took everyone only a second to spot the gushing stump that used to be Mark's left arm.

"W-what in the devil just happened!?" Jonathan exclaimed, his eyes moving up to the now motionless Pillar Man "I didn't even see him attack!"

Caesar quickly, yet gently, took the whimpering soldier out of Jonathan's arms, the older man too bewildered to stop him. Caesar's throat burned with sorrow as Mark reached up with his remaining arm to grab his Italian friend's sleeve, his breathing ragged.

"That guy must have absorbed his arm just as you grabbed him, gramps. They're skin can digest whatever they touch in an instant!" Joseph said, eyeing up everything in the room he could use for a plan he was still formulating.

"W-what happened? What are you guys t-t-talking about?" Mark managed to gasp out, moving his stump slightly "I can still feel m-my arm."

Caesar's gaze stayed on his friend for a moment longer before it moved to Jonathan, noticing that his anger wasn't as intense as he wanted it to be. If he had been the one to reach for his friend, he would have gotten him out of their without a scratch, this much he knew for certain. But, as he stared down at his friend once again and looked to the Pillar men, one of whom was standing by and watching them while the other two moved on ahead, he felt just the right amount of anger reach his throat.

"Here, heal his arm as best you can, Joestar." He said, slowly guiding Mark to Jonathan's arms and slowly got to his feet, the hamon in his body becoming visible to everyone. Jospeh, knowing what was about to happen, came up behind the blonde warrior to act as back up if he needed it.

"I'm going to end this before it begins!"

A flurry of hamon infused bubbles flew from his arms like a horde of firecrackers on the fourth of July, all heading toward the still motionless monster who loomed over them all like a giant, his aura one of calm and is face filled with intrigue.

"It appears the Hamon tribe is more resilient than we thought."


	7. An Evil 2,000 Years Dormant! (2)

**Now here is where things will divulge a bit. I felt bad for the last chapter so I wanted to get this out as fast as I could to make up for it.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Chapter Seven:_

 _An Evil 2,000 Years Dormant! (2)_

"Curious."

The ancient warrior named Wamuu observed as the blue haired human's arm returned to its normal length, cradling the human he had not even noticed had been in front of him, only tasting the brief meal that was his arm.

"Did you see that as well, Wamuu?" Asked Esidisi, somewhat mockingly as he stood beside his comrade "I have not seen that move in quite a long time."

"Indeed, I believe the Hamon Tribe called it the "Zoom Punch"." He then crossed his arms "I thought we slaughtered them all before we rested." He stated, making Esidesi chuckle.

"They're resilent, I'll give them that."

Wamuu squinted his eyes again at the young hamon warrior, their gazes having met a moment prior. He had felt something in those eyes, something he had not seen in ages. Honor, compassion and a sense of righteousness! All the hamon users he had encountered before his rest were a cowardly lot who very rarely held a sense of honor, but this young man had sparked a fire within that had long since been extinguished.

"What are you two looking at?" asked master Kars, making Wamuu halt everything and turn to kneel at his feet.

"Lord Kars, it seems that the hamon tribe has survived. That young man over there used one of their ancient techniques in this new era."

Kars looked over to where Wamuu had gestured at the huddled group of humans, seeing the blue haired man himself. He studied the man's face for a moment, seeing the brief but familiar crackle of energy dispense from the user.

"It seems we didn't search hard enough in our last days." He then waved his hand and turned toward the stairs "Nevertheless, we will deal with that later. We have more important matters to attend to."

Wamuu winced but nevertheless nodded at the command of his master, rising to his feet.

"As you wish Lord Kars."

It was a shame, really. Two thousand years of slumber has made him restless, it seems. But he would not dare disobey Lord Kars, the stone was more important right now and afterwards he would have plenty of time to test the young man's strength.

"I'm going to end this before it begins!"

Wamuu turned around at the shout and saw a wave of what appeared to be bubbles heading toward him. A second later and he was completely surrounded by the small, fragile balls of soap. Strange, did the human shoot these from his hands? Curious, he extended his finger and popped it, resulting in a feeling coursing through him that almost seemed foreign given how long it had been since he felt it.

Pain. Hamon induced pain.

"Hamon…" he muttered to himself, looking over at the furious looking blonde human "It appears the hamon tribe is more resilient than we thought."

It was a curious way to evolve their techniques, but it was rather smart to surround him like this. But with a turn of his head, one of his hair decorations popped it harmlessly and one by one with a spin of his head, he began to pop every single one of them at lightning speeds.

* * *

"W-what? He's popping the bubbles!" Joseph yelled, Caesars face one of surprise when he saw this display.

"He knows about hamon!" the blonde man yelled. He then watched in a daze as every single bubble he had thrown at the ancient being had all been popped, the Pillar Man's head still whirling around "B-but how did he pop every single one? Unless…" the skin on his face suddenly stung with pain as blood trickled from suddenly appearing thin cuts on his cheeks "W-what the-"

"Get out of there Caesar! Those wires of his stirred up some kind of wind!" Speedwagon yelled, his eyes widening even more when he saw the blood leaking from the young hamon user's face "Shut your eyes, hurry!"

In the instant he said this, Caesar obliged and felts his eyelids along with the rest of his face go numb with pain as several cuts appeared all over his cheeks, forehead and two perfect slits right where his open eyes would have been, causing him to recoil to the ground.

"Caesar!"

Not responding to his name being called by the brown haired Joestar, the blonde young man wiped the blood from his face and did his best to ignore the pain as he got to his feet.

"You…you nearly killed my friend. I'm going to make you suffer for that!" he yelled, sending hamon coursing through his arms as he charged forward. Despite this declaration, The Pillar Man looked like he had grown bored of the man and had turned around to leave, which only served to add a splash of gasoline atop the already flaring rage for the blonde man. Caesar grabbed this opening by the throat as he got closer and closer until everything went white for a split second. He had heard the collective gasp from everyone in the room as everything came back to him, the pain that now shot through his neck the most prevalent thing he felt at the moment. He looked down, his breathing blocked and his whole body suspended in the air by the Pillar Man's right index and middle fingers.

"You hamon warriors require breathing, your weak points being your throat and lungs." He stated, his eyes narrowing into slits "I will say this only once: come back and face me when you are stronger, hamon warrior. Only then will Wamuu grant you an honorable death."

And with this, he flicked his wrist with the force of a man beckoning for his dog, sending the man crashing into the nearby pillar and collapsing onto the ground, motionless.

"Alright, you've had your fun Wamuu. Let's get out of here and find the stone." Esidisi said, earning a nod from Wamuu as the three turned to leave.

* * *

If Jonathan's eyes grew any wider, they would pop out and roll around like marbles on a greased slope. He had seen the horrors of what a vampire could do, but this was something new altogether. With Dio, he took comfort in the fact that his adoptive older brother underestimated him and his hamon, but these beings, these monsters; they knew what hamon was capable of and it would only make things much harder than he anticipated.

He looked down at his hands, seeing the golden energy flowing into the stump that used to be Mark's arm and he sighed, stopping the energy.

"I have healed his arm as best I could, Speedwagon. Please watch over him." The gentleman said, handing the now sleeping soldier to his friend who took him without hesitation.

"What do you plan on doing, Mr. Joestar?" he asked, his concern only growing when the giant of a man got to his feet and clenched his fist.

"We have to stop these monsters, here and now." He said, walking over to where his grandson was rapidly clearing his throat for some reason. Upon seeing his grandfather coming over, he stopped and smirked at the bored looking Pillar Men.

"Hey, you're forgetting two more hamon users right here! Don't leave without getting acquainted with us first!" he said, marching over to Caesar and prying open his eye "Hmm, yeah he just got your eyelids playboy, don't worry about it."

Wamuu watched all of this curiously, his boredom wearing away when the intriguing warrior from earlier came up beside the buffoon who was talking.

"Guess those bubbles of yours weren't all they were cracked up to be, eh Caesar?" he taunted, marching back over to his ancestor, who's look of curiosity with a slight tint of disapproval made him wave his hand and produce a set of clackers "Now it's time to introduce my technique!"

"Technique? Joseph, I'm sorry but-"

"Watch and learn, gramps!" Joseph said, ignoring Jonathan as he spun the clackers around rather impressively, stopping shortly after to smirk. However, he did not see one of the clackers keep its momentum from the sudden stop and it smacked him on the back of the head.

"Oh no!"

"Joseph, are you alright?" Jonathan asked, kneeling down next to his groaning grandson and helped him to his feet while the young man rubbed his aching head.

"Despicable, acting like a fool even while going up against that monster!" Caesar spat, getting up and joining a confused Speedwagon.

"No, gramps!" Jospeh whispered to Jonathan, making him perk his ear up "I'm trying to distract him so you can get a hit in!"

Jonathan raised a dubious eyebrow

"What? Joseph you didn't need to hurt yourself to do that." He said, earning a low growl from Joseph.

"Look, I know you fought Dio and stuff, but I've fought one of these things before. These guys aren't easy like vampires, they're really freaking tough! So we need to use dirty trick in the book if we want to win."

Jonathan stared for a moment before nodding

"I understand Joseph but that isn't-"

"Are you two done conversing over there?" Wamuu asked impatiently "I thought you were going to fight me."

"Oh we are, don't worry!" Joseph said, popping his neck "Just working out some kinks first, just hold your horses!"

Wamuu glared at the two men and looked over his shoulder at his two masters, who looked at him expectantly. The two masters looked at each other for a moment and nodded, Esidisi turning back to their companion.

"If you like, we will wait outside Wamuu. You should have no problem dealing with these two." Esidisi said. Wamuu contemplated this and, after a moment, nodded.

"Yes, I shall test these warrior's skills. You may leave if you wish, my masters."

The two Pillar Men nodded and continued their journey outside, heading up the set of stairs into the night. Meanwhile, Joseph was doing his best to come up with something that even resembled a plan. He had heard from his grandmother and Speedwagon that his grandfather was an honorable fellow and while he respected that, he knew it would do him no good against the likes of the Pillar Men. But from the look he was getting right now, he knew he would have to adapt.

"Wow, I guess granny wasn't wrong about you being honorable." Joseph said with a smirk, earning a smile from Jonathan.

"Do not worry Joseph, you may fight as you wish. If you need help, just let me know, but first." He said and turned toward Wamuu, who held his gaze with a mixture of curiosity and impatience.

"You seem the honorable type, would you prefer a one on one battle or to take us both at once?" he asked, making Caesar and Joseph wince while Speedwagon just gasped.

"Is he so stupid to ask such a question? Just kill that monster already!" Caesar yelled, but to no avail as the warrior Pillar Man crossed his arms and chuckled.

"Ah, it seems I was right about you, honorable hamon warrior." He then unfolded his arms "It matters not to me; I will take you both at once."

Jonathan nodded and took a deep breath, his powerful hamon coursing through his body and up his arms.

"Then prepare yourself, Wamuu. I, Jonathan Joestar, shall be your opponent!" he yelled, raising his fist in preparation. Joseph smirked and leapt beside his grandpa, doing a similar pose.

"Yeah, get ready for the wrath of the Joestar family!" the brown haired man yelled, spinning his clackers around for a moment as he infused them with hamon, tossing them shortly afterward.

Wamuu moved his head slightly to the right and dodged the toy, the balls getting stuck in the pillar behind him. Joseph groaned but acted unfazed as he pulled out another set.

"Go get 'em grandpa!"

Jonathan nodded and met his opponent's eyes. Unlike his late adoptive brother, whose eyes always seemed to hold contempt and deceit, even when they fought, Wamuu's held a deep pride, much like another warrior he had encountered on his way to fight Dio, Bruford. Similar to then, it almost made him want to quit fighting. Maybe if he filled him up with enough hamon it would calm his spirit?

Tossing these thoughts aside, Jonathan let out a yell as he charged Wamuu, who remained unfazed.

"Take this, Hamon of the sun!" he yelled, aiming his fist at the Pillar Man's face. It was then that he witnessed one of the strangest, most bizarre things in his life. Instead of moving his whole body to dodge the blow, Wamuu's neck simply stretched and his chest caved into itself to where his punch hit nothing "W-what in the world!?"

Wamuu simply smirked and Jonathan reared back for another attack.

"Sendo Wave Kick!" He yelled, charging hamon into his knee as he raised it up to meet Wamuu's abs. Again, the Pillar Man's body contorted away from his strike, turning his body into the shape of a Z.

"I can't hit him!"

"Come on, you can do better than this." The ancient warrior said, smirking as Jonathan growled at him.

"Surprise!" Joseph yelled, coming up from Wamuu's right blind spot. While this indeed surprised Wamuu, it was not quick enough as he dodged the spinning volley of clackers by caving in his entire right side, almost making Joseph fall over "D-damn it, thought I had him!"

Both of them jumped back as Wamuu's body bended back to its normal shape.

"A shame, I thought one of you would have gotten a hit on me by now." He said, flicking one of his hair wires. Joseph smirked.

"We're just getting warmed up, buddy." he said, looking over Wamuu's shoulder for just a second "Oh yeah, you got something right about here." He said, reaching up to scratch his head.

Confused, Wamuu listened closely and heard the unmistakable crackle of hamon from behind him, making him turn as quick as he could. He proved too slow, as the clackers slammed into his skull, burning away the flesh and eroding the skull beneath as it flew back into the waiting hands of Joseph. Jonathan could not believe his eyes. While a part of him was amazed at this, seeing the versatility of hamon used so cleverly, a smaller part of him was disappointed in the use of a dishonorable attack. Wamuu on the other hand, just stood there stunned, his eyes wide and his wound glowing from the hamon.

"Gotcha!" Joseph yelled, "That was my clacker boomerang, I planned it all along when I threw that first clacker into the pillar! This is modern way to fight!"

He ran up to the seemingly stunned Pillar Man and punched him in the face, his fist fueled with a tiny bit of hamon as he rapidly hit Wamuu in the face.

"This'll teach you to be so arrogant!" he screamed.

"Joseph that's enough, I think this may be a trap!" Jonathan yelled, grabbing the almost identical man by the shoulder and pulling him back as Wamuu's body began to tremble.

"Hit me more! I deserve it for letting you be the first to scar my face." He said, his tone hiding an anger Jonathan did not want to tempt any more. Joseph, while feeling slightly more cautious at his grandfathers warning, still felt an anger boiling inside him that begged him to just get in one more punch.

"Oh yeah? Well here's another one for ya!"

He reared his fist back for another strike but it was grabbed by the much stronger Jonathan.

"Joseph, that is enough! Can't you see the look in his eyes?" he asked, turning his head to meet the shadow covered eyes "He's hiding something dangerous and if you keep hitting him, he's going to use it on you!"

Joseph grunted and rubbed the spot where he was grabbed, looking over his wounded opponent. While it looked like he was trembling, the Pillar Man was actually tightening every muscle in his body, enough to where it looked like his veins would burst at any moment, making the brown haired man back up slightly.

"Uh yeah, something doesn't seem right here."

Wamuu chuckled, the spasming of his muscles getting faster with every passing second.

"Ah, you two were smart enough to see it! I let you pummel me to pay me back for letting my guard down, but now," he moved his arms slowly, seeming to leave echoes of where they once were as they moved to opposite ends of his chest "That lesson of mine is over."

The air in the room slowly began to blow, ruffling the two hamon warrior's hair as it picked up speed.

"Hurry up and finish him off, you two!" Speedwagon yelled at the two men, who barely heard him over the building wind.

"Gramps, we need to get behind something!" Joseph screamed and turned, stopped only by his grandfather's strong grip.

"Joseph, let's hit him with everything we've got!" Jonathan yelled, his fist radiating with the glow of hamon. Joseph nearly called him crazy, but shook off his fear and donned both of his clackers when he saw the downright inspiring amount of determination in his ancestor's eyes.

"Now you're speaking my language, gramps!"

Wamuu extended both of his arms and they both began to spin in opposite directions, his left clockwise and his right counter clockwise, whipping up a ferocious wind as the two warriors charged him.

"Clacker Volly!"

"Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!"

"Divine Sandstorm!"

Everything went black for all three combatants, the wind howling as screams from everyone in the room echoed into the night.


	8. The Gamble of Death!

**Okay, I sort of lied last chapter. THIS is where things will divulge a bit and I hope you enjoy where the story goes.**

 **Read and critique!**

* * *

 _Chapter Eight:_

 _The Gamble of Death!_

Jonathan's eyes finally began to open, pain shooting into every inch of his body when he tried to move. He groaned, feeling almost every orifice leaking blood as he writhed on the stone floor.

"Joseph?" he managed to call out, barely summoning the strength to get up to his knees. He let out a yelp when he tried to move his right arm, looking down at it to see that the elbow was turned upward, letting him helpfully know that it was broken "D-darn it, it'll take a while for this to heal."

His eyes scanned the dark room, dust still shrouding everything after Wamuu's Divine Sandstorm. When he recalled the very recent memory of him charging the Pillar Man just as he was readying this new attack neither he nor his grandson had seen before, he wanted to bury his head in shame. He did not know why, but everything in him told him to charge at that moment, probably thinking he and his quick grandson could out speed the ancient being. Judging from the broken arm, his entire body being sore, his clothes torn to shreds and being covered from head to toe in his own blood, it was fair to say he had miscalculated somewhat. He let out a ragged cough, clearing some dust from his dry mouth as he shakily got to his feet.

"Joseph? Speedwagon? Caesar?" he called out, his panic building when he did not get an answer from either immediately.

"Mr. Joestar!"

He sighed in relief when he heard his best friend's aged voice and the clacking of his shoes against the stone getting closer. His familiar form stepped through the dust cloud, barely holding an unconscious Mark and a wheezing Caesar under his arms. The joyful smile his friend had quickly turned to a panicked frown when he got a good view of his mangled body.

"Good to see that you all are okay, Speedwagon." He said weakly, coughing again as his hat wearing friend carefully set the two men down to rush to his side.

"If this doesn't prove God is keeping you alive, I don't know what will!" Speedwagon said, looking over Jonathan's bloodied body "I thought for sure you and Joseph were goners this time! Charging that huge bloke like that, you really should have thought ahead, Mr. Joestar."

Jonathan smiled and nodded at his friend's advice, looking around as the dust began to clear for any sign of Joseph, or Heaven forbid, Wamuu. He gasped when he lay eyes on his grandson, who looked to be in the same shape he was in, his clothes ripped and his body covered in blood.

"J-Joseph!" Jonathan yelled, doing his best to limp over toward the prone Joestar, his legs nearly giving out several times.

"Mr. Joestar, wait! That monster could still be out there!"

This warning fell on deaf ears as grandfatherly instinct took hold of the grunting gentleman, each step seeming to suck more and more life from him. A single loud footstep echoed throughout the chamber, and then another, and another. Jonathan stopped in his tracks and slowly turned his head to the right.

"Astounding. Not only did you two confront my Divine Sandstorm, but you survived it as well?" Wamuu pondered aloud, stepping forward out of the last dust cloud to see a panicked looking Jonathan "I must say, you humans have become a lot more resilient in the past two thousand years."

Jonathan's heart began to race as he stared down the blood covered warrior, glowing wounds all over his upper arms and torso. Seeing the young man looking at his wounds, Wamuu inspected his damaged right arm.

"If you two had not struck my arms, then the both of you would be nothing but a pile of shredded flesh before my feet."

Jonathan watched in horror as the hamon filled wounds began to slowly heal before his eyes, his own wounds looking on in envy as the hamon in his body had barely begun to do its job. Wamuu turned his head to see the fallen Joseph, his body motionless on the ground. He looked back to the injured, honorable man before him and began to contemplate his next move. Could he kill the human before him? Of course, in the state he was in it would take a while for his hamon to heal him, so now was the best time to strike. But did he want to? If he was being honest, then he really could not say. Keeping them alive would risk both his life and the lives of his masters, but it would also be a thrill to see how strong they would get, to see if they could match him at their best.

Even in the face of certain death with crippling injuries, the human before him did not show any sign of fear and it only aroused his curiosity to keep them alive. His head turned back to the other warrior who fought with him, swearing that his body was in a different place than where it had been before.

Jonathan had been watching as Joseph slowly crawled away, hearing the barely muffled swears of Caesar behind him at this supposed act of cowardice. However, he had also been observing the clear conflict within Wamuu. It was odd, if he was honest, to face what everyone called a monster that shared the same values of honor and pride as he did, one could even call it surreal. When he saw Wamuu turn his head back to his retreating grandson, he quickly thought of something to say to draw his attention back.

"What drives you to fight, Wamuu?"

The ancient being raised an eyebrow at this question, crossing his arms before he answered.

"The thrill of combat is a reason in and of itself, but if I had to give another, it would be seeing a warrior give it his all before he dies. It truly is inspiring to witness." He then perked up, smirking and shaking his head when he caught on "It seems I need to practice masking my emotions better. What drives you then, warrior?"

"Simple, to protect my friends and family. It is all the driving force I need." He answered, earning a fake chuckle from Wamuu.

"Sentimentality is both a blessing and a weakness to a warrior such as you. That drive of yours would be extinguished if they died, correct?"

Jonathan thought long and hard for a moment, his eyes moving to the ground as he went deep in his mind for an answer. In a way, the wise warrior was right. While his father's death drove him, it had also left a burning hole in his heart that had not been filled until he married Erina. He had read plenty of stories about famed heroes both real and fictional who lost every ounce of willpower they had gained by losing multiple people close to them. Would that happen to him? That, he could not truly say. All he could do was hope it would never come to that again. His eyes opened soon after, Joseph now mere feet away from a mining cart. Just as he was about to answer, two figures shrouded darkness approached them and he had only one guess as to who it was.

"Wamuu, what is keeping you? Are these hamon users that much of a handful?" Esidisi asked, stepping beside his subordinate, smirking when he saw the injured Jonathan and the huddling Speedwagon. Wamuu kneeled at his feet.

"No, but I admire their strength. They took my Divine Sandstorm head on and survived. I have not encountered this feat since-"

"-since it happened with us." Kars interrupted, stepping forward as he eyed up everyone in the room. He scowled when he saw Joseph slumped over near the mine cart, gesturing his head in that direction "Esidisi, retrieve that straggler."

"With pleasure, Kars."

In a single leap, the orange paint wearing Pillar man jumped over to a surprised Joseph, picked him up and leapt back over to the group, tossing him beside Jonathan.

"D-Damn it, how did you know?" the cheeky Joestar asked, feeling his grandfather's hamon laced hand cover his arm wounds. Kars ignored his question, choosing instead to step in front of Wamuu.

"Since you failed to dispose of them Wamuu, that leads me to believe they will pose a serious threat if left alive." He said, starting to undo his arm bands "Killing them now would eliminate all obstacles in our path to the stone."

Esidisi chuckled and popped his neck before stepping beside his friend.

"Don't forget about me, I've been itching for a fight since I awakened."

Too many thoughts were racing through Wamuu's head at one, all colliding with each other for dominance. Would he dare interrupt his master? No, he couldn't. He owed everything to Kars, especially him getting to meet these three hamon users, two of which barely survived his strongest attack. That thought alone was one that made him almost open his mouth to disobey for the second time in his life. But he remembered the last time that happened; Kars was not one to be denied, so he bowed his head and pushed down the tight feeling in his chest that almost made him jump to his feet.

"Of course, lord Kars."

* * *

Jonathan's breath hitched at the warrior's words. It was clear by his tone alone that he didn't want this, but it could not be helped. He had survived death at the hands of his brother only to lead up to this, death by the hands of three ancient beings. All he could think about was his wife and how he had failed her. If only he had listened to Joseph's plan of hiding, this would not have happened; his arm was still at least twenty minutes away from being healed. With a single shake of his head, he stopped this train of thought. No, he would not regret anything. If this is what fate decreed, then he would not fight it. He would get to see his father, mother, his master, Danny and, despite how much he doubted it, maybe even Dio.

He looked up to see the Pillar Men getting closer, Kars having undone his armbands to let loose two scythe like blades each of his arms, while Esidisi had strange red ropes leaking a red liquid from them coming from his back. He closed his eyes, hoping only for it to be a quick death.

"If you kill us, you will never find the stone!" a voice yelled, causing everyone to turn toward it. Caesar stood as tall as he could, one eye open with one finger pointed towards the two halted Pillar Men.

"Oh, and what makes you think we would need you to find it?" Esidisi questioned, making Caesar smirk.

"Simple, if we die here and now, then a friend of ours will dispose of the stone immediately. You would never find it before they caught wind of our deaths."

Kars smirked back at the wounded Italian, crossing his arms.

"Really now? What makes you think we will leave anyone alive to tell them?" Caesar, unfazed, only widened his smirk.

"You wouldn't need too. If we do not meet up with them every two hours, then the stone will be destroyed, simple as that."

Kars lost his smirk upon hearing this and unfolded his arms.

"How do we know you are not lying?" Esidisi pressed, making Caesar widen his eyes in shock for a brief moment before he regained his cool demeanor. His next sentence, however, was stolen by a certain wounded Joestar.

"Do you really want to take that risk?" Joseph asked, his façade of truthfulness holding firm to the glaring Pillar Men. A minute long stalemate took place as the Pillar Men thought of their next move.

"Fine, we will choose to believe this tale you have conjured up." Kars said, reapplying his armbands as he withdrew his arm blades. Just as everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Kars held up a silencing finger "However, when we pin point your location, we will have no further use for you."

Wamuu, seeing this as a chance, got up and bowed in front of his annoyed master.

"Might I recommend something, Lord Kars?" he asked, turning his head toward the humans "These hamon users are some of the strongest I have ever seen, I would be honored to fight them again. So, in case they try to flee, may we use it, Lord Kars?"

Kars scowled for a moment, but it soon turned into an amused smile when he saw the confused look on the human's faces.

"I see your thirst for battle is insatiable, Wamuu." He waved his hand "Fine, I will permit it. It will take less than a month to find them anyway."

Joseph chose to voice the question everyone else was pondering.

"What is _it_?"

Jonathan watched as Wamuu got up and pulled a small ring from his finger, showing it to them as he got closer.

"This is the wedding ring of death. It will give you precisely one month to improve your abilities. If you do not manage to defeat me in that time span," he quickly shoved his hand in Jonathan's chest, the pain not lasting long enough to let him scream before Wamuu's hand pulled back, the ring missing from his fingers "Then the ring will dissolve and release a deadly poison into your heart."

Esidisi chuckled and walked over to the fallen Joseph in the still shocked Jonathan's arms

"Alright, it's been a while since I've done this."

Esidisi withdrew his own ring and put it in Joseph's chest next to his heart, the young man too shocked to attempt a scream. Kars approached the growling Caesar, repeating the same process as his subordinates to the horror of the Italian. The calm leader of the Pillar Men marched to the front of the stairs with his companions.

"As Wamuu said, you have precisely one month to train. When that time comes, we will have already tracked you down, so no need to worry about us never finding the stone if you die before that time is up." Kars said, smirking at the horrified expressions of the hamon users and the lone Speedwagon.

Then they took to the night, leaving the three hamon warriors to their shared misery. Wamuu, meanwhile, smiled proudly at the chance to take them all on again.


	9. A New Master of Hamon, Lisa Lisa!

**Apologies if you find the scene where Joseph and Caesar meet Lisa Lisa somewhat different than in the anime, I recently purchased the Jojonium additions of Battle Tendecy so as to use them as reference along with the anime.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Chapter Nine:_

 _A New Master of Hamon, Lisa Lisa!_

"It's incredible!" The doctor exclaimed, looking over all three x-rays before him "You all three really have rings wrapped around your aortas!"

Jonathan gasped and reached up to feel his chest, this action being parroted by Joseph and Caesar.

"Not to mention, it looks like they have begun to merge with the walls of the blood vessels! It's astounding, how in the world did this-"the man of medicine paused, seeing the looks of distress on his patient's faces, making him clear his throat "Pardon me, I seem to have forgotten my bedside manner."

Joseph could not contain his panic anymore and he huddled in his chair.

"Oh no! It's still a shock to hear it, but to actually see it!" Joseph cringed in his chair and covered his head. Caesar, gulped down his panic and managed to salvage his pride before asking.

"Is there really a poison inside the rings?"

The doctor rubbed his chin and examined the x-rays again.

"Well, it's hard to tell. There is a hallowed out point on each ring, but it is difficult to see if there is any sort of poison inside. As long as there is no injury in that area, it should stay put and remain whole."

Speedwagon sighed and took off his hat.

"Is there any way they can be removed?"

"I'm afraid not, at least not in this era of surgical techniques. Any attempt could resort in either releasing the poison or killing them before we even tried to remove them." He answered truthfully, making Speedwagon sigh again as he looked over the three hamon users.

"Thank you doctor, leave us alone now, please."

The doctor nodded and proceeded to leave, taking with him their last hope of an easy escape.

"What are we going to do?" Jonathan asked, silence answering him. Caesar stood up, tightening his fist.

"What else are we going to do? The only solution that is left, of course!" the blonde declared before turning around to face the two Joestars "We're going to defeat them before the thirty three days are up!"

This show of determination was admirable to Jonathan, who nearly voiced his agreement before Joseph cut him off.

"Are you crazy?! We all three got annihilated by Wamuu, how in the world are we going to take on all three at once?" he demanded, Caesar's unimpressed scowl not changing.

"You think I would make such a declaration without a plan? Honestly Jojo, how little faith do you have in me?"

Joseph crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, and what is this plan?"

Jonathan observed as the young man stood silent for a moment before he walked over to a table, taking the jug of water that lay upon it and poured three glasses of clear liquid.

"Before you two are even ready to face them again, you'll need to, at the very least, be able to do this!"

In one swift movement, Caesar picked up one of the cups filled to the brim with water and quickly flipped it upside down, shocking the other three before they saw the water inside not moving at all, seeming to be frozen inside the glass as tiny sparks of hamon erupted from

"T-the water isn't spilling!" Jonathan exclaimed, mirroring Joseph's amazement. Caesar then picked up the other two cups and tossed them their way.

"Catch, Joestars! Try to keep the water inside!"

"Easy as pie!" Joseph yelled back as Jonathan prepared himself.

Both glasses landed in their hands and they began to channel their hamon into the cups. One second later, the water exploded out of Joseph's glass and while Jonathan managed to hold it in for just a moment longer, he too failed to keep the water inside, making Caesar groan. Joseph furrowed his brow and tossed the glass aside.

"What the hell does this have to do with the strength my hamon? It's just water in a glass!" he yelled, drying himself off with a towel Jonathan helpfully provided for them both "I've done all kinds of things with my hamon! I've blew up a cactus and blew the cap off of a soda bottle just to name a few, who cares if we can't keep water in some stupid glass!"

While Jonathan found these feats interesting and wanted to dig deeper about them, Caesar rolled his eyes and groaned again.

"It means that you cannot control your hamon, you idiot!"

"Are you picking a fight?" Joseph accused, jumping out of his chair before Caesar got in his face, glaring hard at him. This made the brown haired Joestar retreat back into his chair.

"Let me explain. The power of mine and your hamon is almost equal, while Jonathan's is almost twice as strong as both of ours. However, as we saw, it does not matter how strong it is." He stated, turning around and walking toward the window as both Joestars listened intently "You two always blast your hamon out of your palms all at once, wasting energy! That's why the water exploded.

He then opened the window, letting the morning sunlight flood the room.

"I, on the other hand made the hamon flow into a single point, my finger tips! The more you focus it into that single point, the more powerful it will be. Simple enough for you, Jojo?" he asked, making Joseph almost growl out a retort. Jonathan stood up, clearing his throat.

"I apologize for bringing him up Caesar, but Will Zeppeli touched upon that as well. Though, we did not have enough time to go in depth."

Caesar glared at the blue haired Joestar, but relaxed his gaze when he took a deep breath. He could not summon the energy to hate the older gentleman, at least not as much as he could before. After he barely managed to save Mark and after seeing both of the Joestars take on Wamuu to protect both him and Speedwagon, it allowed him to respect the both of them just a bit.

"It is fine, Jonathan. We all three have more important things to worry about." He said, turning back to a confused looking Joseph "We were all almost killed by Wamuu, and we must all learn to create much, much stronger hamon. Which is why we will go to train with my master!"

"Your master?" Jonathan and Joseph asked at once, causing the blonde hamon user to nod.

"Yes, my hamon teacher in Venice." He clarified, making Joseph sigh.

"We have to train, huh?"

"Yes, we have to do it."

"Is it going to be hard?"

Caesar sighed to himself and rubbed his forehead.

"Yes, Jojo. We are all going to die in thirty three days if we don't, so we are going to need to train hard!"

Jonathan nodded at this and looked over Joseph, who looked less than excited. In fact, he looked downright horrified.

"Oh no! The words I hate most are "train" and "hard"!

"Well you better suck it up, Jojo! All of our lives are on the line!"

Jonathan shook his head at the conflict and they later boarded a train for Venice, Speedwagon chose to stay behind, but was sure to voice his concerns.

"Are you sure you will be fine, Mr. Joestar?" he pried, his tone suggesting an inner conflict within him. Jonathan smiled and nodded.

"Do not worry, Speedwagon. We will all be fine." He said, Speedwagon's slow nod showing he would need more convincing. The blue haired Joestar put a hand on his friend's shoulder, smiling warmly at him. Speedwagon slowly returned the smile, pinching the brim of his hat.

"Be sure to tell Erina all that has happened, I would hate for her to worry about me."

Speedwagon laughed and tipped his hat at his best friend.

"I've been by her side for fifty years, I'll be damned if I'd let her worry for even a second!" he said, making Jonathan's smile widen. The two exchanged a few more words and laughs, then it was time for the train to leave. Jonathan had only been on a train once during his time at university, but comparing the two trains was like comparing a horse and buggy to the car. He and his class had to take a trip to a dig site in Scotland and the only way was by train. It had taken them almost three days to get there. It had only taken the three hamon users eight hours to travel almost half of Italy.

* * *

Venice, like Rome, looked as beautiful as it had looked in paintings to Jonathan and he found the use of boats to travel the river in the city very romantic, enough to where he began to think of taking Erina along with him next time to make up for their delayed honeymoon.

"Is this place big with tourist or something?" Joseph asked, eyeing up a passing boat that had a lone gondolier guiding it. He then turned to Jonathan when he did not get an answer from Caesar "Do you really think there is a hamon master here, gramps? I was expecting somewhere deep in the mountains or somewhere more isolated."

Jonathan nodded, seeing his point.

"Yes but I do not believe Caesar would lie to us, Joseph."

Joseph halfway nodded as he watched the gondolier he saw earlier steer the boat closer to the coast. Caesar smiled at the convenience and approached.

"Hey you, ready the gondola for us. We are going to Air Suplena Island."

His request must not have been heard, as the gondolier simply sat there in silence. Annoyed, the blonde Italian called out again.

"Are you listening, gondolier? I said we want a ride!"

This seemed to get the person on board's attention, as they turned around and stared at the three men on the shore. Their face was covered up by a strange looking mask.

"Is that a stone mask?" Joseph inquired, earning a shake of the head from Caesar.

"No, it's a masquerade mask for festivals, Venice is famous for them."

A long silence ensued, the person on the board eyeing up all three of them Jonathan noticed, rather oddly, that they seemed to stare at both him and Joseph the longest, almost making him question it. Before he could, they raised a finger.

"Hey, you! The big one in the middle, I don't like that face of yours!" they yelled, making Joseph recoil in confusion.

"What the hell? Where did that come from?" he asked, but did not receive any answer. The person then pointed at Jonathan, their words coming out later than they had with Joseph.

"In fact, you have an ugly face as well! I'll take both of you on!"

Jonathan reacted the same way as Joseph, recoiling back.

"Wait! I don't want to fight, maybe we can-"

His plea was interrupted when the gondolier's paddle landed in the water, followed by the stranger jumping atop it, standing perfectly straight. What surprised the three more was the fact that the stranger was only standing on their tip toes.

"H-He's standing on top of the paddle! Who the hell is this guy?" Joseph inquired. The masked man proceeded to put all of their weight on one side of the paddle, causing it to rise upward. In the blink of an eye, the oar swung around and smacked Joseph in the face, making him collide with Jonathan as they both flew into the water.

Almost in sync, Jonathan and Joseph caught themselves on the water, skidding across the surface as the channeled their hamon into their hands and feet. When they recovered, Joseph was more than happy to voice his anger.

"You asked for it! Hitting just me would have pissed me off, but no one hurts my family! I'll make you wish you never met me!" he yelled getting on his feet as Jonathan came to his side.

"Wait, Joseph!"

Both of them fell silent when the stranger removed their mask, revealing long, flowing brown hair, a pale face, red lips and beautiful blue eyes.

"So, they can control their hamon enough to walk on water. It's a start, anyway." She said, smiling at the two awestruck men.

"A woman!?" Joseph and his grandfather exclaimed in shock.

"Master!" Caesar yelled along with them.

The woman looked over the duo of Joestars before her, lingering her gaze on both of their faces. Jonathan noticed that, again, she seemed to be looking at him with a particular interest.

"Well, I don't care if you are a woman! No one hits me or my family and gets away with it!" Joseph yelled and went to approach her. His walk was stopped by a firm grip on the shoulder by Jonathan.

"I'm sorry Joseph, but I cannot allow you to do that. It is unbefitting a gentleman to hit a woman!" he said, feeling Joseph trying to squirm out of his grip.

"Don't you feel the least bit mad about her hitting you, gramps?" he pressed, the blue haired gentleman looking over at the woman, seeing the ripples she was making in the water.

"The last time a stranger hit me, he showed me things I never thought possible. I believe this may be the case for you as well." He said with an aura of amusement in his voice, his eyes locked with Caesar's coach. The woman giggled to herself.

"An old ideal such as chivalry will not get you far when dealing with the Pillar Men, if you want to learn hamon, you must be prepared to die for it!" She said, not giving them time for questions or retorts as she jumped, kicking the oar into the air. To Jonathan's amazement, two pillars of water formed parallel on both ends of the paddle, letting her use it as a high bar. The woman gracefully flipped off the oar after gaining enough momentum, almost seeming to glide closer and closer to them. When she was above them, she strapped on a strange device over Jonathan's mouth as well as Joseph's, surprising them both. Immediately, it felt someone had tied his mouth together with rope, as when Jonathan tried to breathe normally, it felt like his lungs would explode.

"W-what the hell is this?" Joseph gasped out, coughing in the middle of his sentence. Caesar's teacher landed beside her student after putting the mask on them.

"Jonathan and Joseph Joestar, you must spend the next month wearing that breathing correction mask."

Joseph gasped out again and started to cough.

"I-I can't breathe!"

Jonathan was having similar difficulties, his lungs feeling stressed from the lack of proper breathing. However, he remembered a similar exercise he did with Will Zeppeli. The old baron required him to sit underwater for nearly thirty minutes at a time, using a rock to hold his weight down to the river bed. Every time he would come to the surface early, Will would remind him that he would never be able to defeat Dio without properly controlling his breathing. This process repeated until the final few days where he had successfully managed to make the time.

When he recalled this lesson, his breathing began to steady and he finally felt his lungs relaxing themselves. Joseph, however, was not having such luck.

"You can breathe as long as keep a steady rhythm." She said apathetically as Joseph fell into the water after losing his concentration "However, if your breathing goes wrong for even a second, it will nearly suffocate you to death until the very last second."

Joseph quickly swam to the surface along with Jonathan, who had to help the poor man up as he tried to regain his lost breath.

"Who the hell are you, lady!?" Joseph demanded, a few quick gasp following soon after as he ignored a harsh glare from Caesar. The woman smiled down at him before answering.

"My name," she ran a hand through her shining brown hair "is Lisa Lisa."


	10. The Dreaded Hell Climb Pillar!

**The longest chapter yet.**

 **I wanted to get the entirety of Hell Climb Pillar done in just one chapter, for I feel that dragging it on would just be annoying to all who read this.**

 **That being said, enjoy!**

* * *

 _Chapter Ten:_

 _The Dreaded Hell Climb Pillar!_

Speedwagon could barely manage to hold his tongue around the old woman before him. His best friend had told him to tell her everything, but he had been caught a little bit later by Joseph and was told not to say anything. He admired Jonathan like a role model and he had raised Joseph since infancy, so it was hard for him to choose who to listen to right now.

"Speedwagon, are you alright?"

The acknowledgement of his presence made him jump a bit in shock, making him quickly take a sip of tea.

"Yes, I am just worried about them, you know." He said, his eyes avoiding hers as he looked down at the table. Erina tilted her head and set her tea cup down.

"Are you sure that's all there is? You haven't even touched the biscuits I made; you usually have half of them eat by now." She said, noticing his eyes widen in surprise before he quickly picked one of the baked goods up.

"Ah yes, sorry. I had a big lunch on the way back."

The way she looked at him over her glasses told him she didn't buy it for a second. He sighed and took one more sip of tea. Was he really prepared to lie to the bride of his best friend? If he told her, then she might worry even more and demand to go to Italy right away. From the look on her face, she more than likely would not believe whatever lie he could come up with, or even the lie Joseph told him to tell her.

He took a slow deep breath before he answered her.

"This is it, Air Suplena Island." Lisa Lisa said, gesturing toward the island in the distance with what appeared was a huge tower in the center surrounded by what looked like a house "This entire island is also my personal mansion."

Jonathan's eye widened at the sight, mentally comparing the size to his destroyed family home. Needless to say, it was much bigger. He sighed as the memory of his home left him, and for a moment, he looked out of the corner of his eye when he felt like he was being watched. Like before, he saw Lisa Lisa quickly look away. That made it the eighth time he has caught her looking at him, which made him only wonder why she kept staring at him. Could it be that she…

"Hey, gramps?"

Thankful for the distraction, he turned to Joseph, the young man coughing after beckoning him.

"Yes, Joseph?"

"How can you breath so well with this stupid mask on?" he inquired, lightly gasping. He chuckled and smiled under the mask.

"Did Erina or Speedwagon tell you stories about before I," he paused before continuing "Died?"

Joseph nodded and, in vain, tried to adjust his mask.

"Yeah, they told me about Dio mostly and about Zeppeli's grandpa somewhat." He answered, looking over at the quiet Caesar as he listened to Lisa Lisa explain something Joseph couldn't care less about "Why do you ask?"

Jonathan relaxed in his seat as he looked to the sky.

"Zeppeli was one of the wisest men I ever knew, aside from my father of course. The week he trained me in the art of hamon was one of the most grueling I had ever experienced. He required me to sit under water for half an hour with a rock to hold me down, he made me balance atop a small mountain on one leg while holding two other heavy rocks in my arms and much more, all to prepare me for my fight with Dio." He rose up and looked his grandson in the eye "I can only imagine what our month of training to fight the Pillar Men will be like."

Joseph winced at this, making Jonathan chuckle.

"Do not worry Joseph, I am sure Mrs. Lisa Lisa will only push us as much as necessary." He said with a smile. This did little to alleviate his worry, but he appreciated the attempt at comfort. Aside from some idle chit chat between master and student, the rest of the trip was silent for the Joestars as they got closer to the island, pondering what challenges lie in store for them.

* * *

Soon after, they were docked and the foursome made their way to the center of the island toward the huge spire that towered above the mansion that surrounded it. Jonathan had to contain his inner archeologist as he held back numerous questions he had about the island, wanting to inquire about its history and those who had lived on it previously. Suddenly, they all came to a stop in front of a huge set of steel doors. Lisa Lisa turned around as she placed a hand on one of the huge slabs of steel.

"The prologue to your training is what I like to call the Hell Climb Pillar!"

While Jonathan and Joseph merely pondered what she meant, Caesar's loud gasp afterward was enough to give them a clue of how much its title rang true.

"The Hell Climb Pillar?" Caesar parroted his master, his lips trembling. Joseph put his hands on his hips.

"What the heck is the Hell Climb Pillar? You could at least give us a tour before you drop names."

Caesar gulped and looked to his cool headed master, doing his best to control the panic in his voice.

"Master, you cannot be serious! I have never once tried it and the many that do never come back!"

Lisa Lisa remained unfazed by her student's ramblings as she circled around the trio of hamon users.

"If you cannot complete this trial, then you have no reason to be on this island at all." She said coldly, slowly opening the doors. The loud creaking deafening almost everyone present as Jonathan tried to prepare a question.

"Mrs. Lisa Lisa, could you please inform us of what this trial involves exactly?" he asked, almost having to yell over the loud opening of the door. For a split second, a smile cracked through her cold demeanor before it turned back into a frown as she looked at all of them.

"You'll find out once you are down there."

A question of what she meant did not have time to leave either of the men's lips as they were all three kicked over the edge, screaming all the while as they plummeted down the long drop. Jonathan tried in vain to reach out and grab a part of the stone wall, as did his two fellow warriors, but they soon hit the bottom with a loud splash.

Joseph was the first to surface, followed soon after by the others as they regained their breath from the sudden dive. He looked down at the liquid in his hand and ran his hand over the Pillar, gasping when he noticed something.

"This stuff isn't water, its oil!" Joseph yelled, his hands rubbing all over the surface of the bottom of the pillar before him.

"You must climb to the top of the pillar using only your bare hands!" Lisa Lisa yelled down at them, getting their still somewhat dazed attention "You will be confided to die down there if you cannot climb it!"

With this, all the sound that remained was the flowing of oil down the tall pillar, as everyone began to formulate how exactly they would reach the top. Jonathan tested its surface multiple times, trying to get a grip with his palms. But even when he managed to do so, he would almost always slip off before he got more than half a meter off the ground when he tried to climb.

"Blast, I can't get a good grip!" he yelled, looking over to his grandson who also seemed to be having difficulties. Caesar, meanwhile, had managed to climb almost four meters as the two Joestars pondered their problems below. Seeming to notice this, he turned to look down at them.

"Hurry up, Joestars! The more you slack off down there, the more strength you waste!" he called out, the talking almost making him lose his concentration as he nearly slipped off the pillar. Jonathan saw this and noticed how the younger man was climbing and the wheels began to turn as he looked down at his hand.

"Joseph, we need to focus our hamon into our fingertips!" he yelled, recalling the discussion they had had just the day before with the grandson of the man who almost taught him the same thing in depth.

Joseph, crafty as he was, had used his frustration of the situation to devise a more pragmatic way out by tying his shirt around the huge pillar.

"Did the people who died down here lack common sense?" he questioned mockingly as he slowly inched his way up. Jonathan, offended by the statement and his disregard for the instructions of his teacher, attempted to scold him.

"Joseph, that's not how-"

The brown haired man barely made it four steps before a dagger came down from above, impaling the pillar and slicing his shirt in half, making scream as he fell back to the bottom. The unimpressed Lisa Lisa who had thrown the dagger, looked down at him in near disgust.

"Climbing the pillar with anything less than hamon is desecrating it!" she yelled down at the grumbling Joestar as he was helped up by his grandfather "The Hell Climb Pillar craves only hamon, it repels everything else. Don't forget that!"

"Are you trying to get us killed or something, lady? I've never trained in hamon all my life! You know I don't have the strength to climb out of here!"

Jonathan cautiously looked up at their teacher, expecting her to scold him as he had been about to do. Instead, her eyes looked devoid of any empathy for his plight, making his spine tingle. William was strict as well, such as when the old master threatened to stop training him all together if he spilled a drop of wine during his fight with Jack the Ripper, but Lisa Lisa was in a whole new playing field. He doubted she would even drop food for them while they were struggled in the depths of this chamber.

Joseph must have noticed this as well, as he curled his fist up and growled in response.

"Damn it, who does she think she is!" he yelled, splashing some oil around to release some his anger "When I get up there, I'll-"

He was cut off when Jonathan grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around, the brown haired man's eyes meeting the blue haired gentleman's own, noticing the sheer amount of determination he held within them like he did during the fight with Wamuu.

"Listen Joseph, as much as I want to scold you over how you spoke to your master, we need to start climbing." He said while looking up at the struggling Caesar, having only moved half a meter since "Did you hear what I said before? We need to channel our hamon into our fingertips, like Caesar told us the day before."

Joseph looked over at the pillar and trailed his eyes up to the grunting blonde man, noticing that he was indeed using only his fingertips to climb.

"Oh wow, you're right gramps!" he said, sloshing through the abs high pool of oil. Jonathan smiled as he walked beside him.

"Ready?" Jonathan asked, bending his knees in preparation.

"You don't have to ask me twice!" Joseph said, tightening his fist as he did the same. In perfect synchronization, they both took a deep breath and channeled their hamon into their fingers. Then they leapt almost three meters into the air with the little amount of hamon they pooled into their legs. Jonathan clawed like a mad cat along with Joseph when they got as high as they could, grabbing on as tight as their tired bodies would allow. Joseph slowly opened his eyes and noticed that they had not fallen yet, making him chuckle as he looked back down in shock.

"We did it gramps!" he said, almost falling off when he broke his concentration. Jonathan nodded and looked up, noticing both how far they had to go and how close they were to Caesar.

"Let's do this, Joseph!" he yelled, inspiring a smile under the mask of his grandson as they began their slow ascent.

* * *

 _Forty nine hours later_

 _Days till rings dissolve: 28_

 _Caesar: 18 meters_

 _Joseph: 15 meters_

 _Jonathan: 16 meters_

Jonathan did his best to ignore the pain in his fingers and legs, his breathing mask keeping him from gasping as much as he wanted to. His face was caked with sweat as he looked up, seeing that the top he so wanted to conquer was still a painful eight meters away. He also saw Caesar, who did not seem to be faring any better than him or Joseph at the moment.

"Joseph, are you okay down there?" Jonathan called out; looking down to see his descendent was just a meter away from him. Joseph let out a few small gasp before answering.

"Yeah! Not much farther now, eh gramps?" he said back, the strain on his muscles visible as he reached and slowly pulled himself up. Jonathan nodded down to him and focused back on task, reaching up and slowly pulling ahead at a snail's pace. With one last look upward, he noticed that Caesar was barely moving at all at the eighteen meter mark, and he just now noticed why that was. The Pillar seemed to bend outward the more one went up it, making it even harder to navigate than before.

"How wearisome." He said under his breath, pulling himself up once again.

* * *

 _Three hours later_

 _Caesar: 19 meters_

 _Joseph: 17 meters_

 _Jonathan: 18 meters_

"What the?" Jonathan questioned, his hand skimming over something as he moved it up to prepare for another pull up. He slowly ran his hand over it and felt his fingers slip into what felt like a crack. A part of him warned that this could be a trap, but the rest of him was thankful for what seemed like a blessing. He pulled up next to it and saw that there was indeed a small crack in the pillar, making him sigh as he stuck his hand in it.

"Joseph, there is a crack-"

Then all his joy faded when he felt his fingers press something inside of the crevice.

"What was that, gramps?" his grandson called back, almost ready to pull up beside him. Suddenly, the pillar began to rumble slightly under their fingers, making them stall their travel.

"W-what was that?" Caesar gasped, the rumbling subsiding afterwards. Just as he was about to move on up, Jonathan noticed a small stream of water coming from above the blonde's head at the twenty meter mark. Then everything came together as he reached up in vain to stop the Italian.

"Caesar, look out!"

If Caesar himself had not noticed in time, his head would have been cut off by the sudden jet of high pressure water that shot out of the pillar. He managed to slide down a bit, catching himself when he was just a foot above the blue haired gentleman.

"What the hell is this!?" Joseph yelled over the sound of the oil.

"It's spitting out high pressure oil!" Caesar yelled "How in the world are we supposed to get by this when we can barely hold onto the pillar?" He mumbled to himself, his arms growing more tired the longer he sat there. And all the three did was hang on for dear life while they tried to come up with anything they could do to get past this barrier of death.

* * *

 _One hour later_

 _Caesar: 19 meters_

 _Joseph: 18 meters_

 _Jonathan: 18.5 meters_

Jonathan looked down at the stone in shame, his sweat covered hair falling over his eyes. He had waited long enough to say this.

"I'm sorry you two, if only I hadn't tried to rest at that crack…"

Joseph grunted as he pulled up next to his grandfather, shaking his head.

"Don't worry about it gramps, I would have done the same thing." He said, looking up as he saw Caesar somehow manage to pull out a pen from his left pocket. The blonde slowly brought it up against the rushing water, gasping when the pen was nearly shot from his hand at the sheer amount of pressure. He pulled the pen down seeing that half of the cap had been cut off.

"Damn it, I thought that since it was now see through that the pressure would have let up." He said, sliding the pen back into his pocket "It seems it doesn't matter how many hours we wait, the oil will still be razor sharp from the pressure!"

Jonathan's guilt only built as he listened to the blonde man, his grip tightening as thoughts of self loathing passed quickly through him. But with a quick deep breath, he pushed these thoughts to the wayside.

"No, there is no time to think like that." The gentleman said to himself, his courage slowly building as he slowly climbed up next to Caesar, Joseph following close behind.

"Gramps, what are you doing?"

Caesar too wondered this, his own plan of diverting his hamon to two points of his body still in the self doubt stage.

"I will go first." Jonathan said, looking over at the two young men, their expressions ones of shock.

"What!? You will never make it unless you know how to control your hamon well enough!" Caesar yelled, grabbing hold of Jonathan's arm.

"Yeah gramps, you'll get shredded!"

Jonathan heard their concern and appreciated it more than they knew, but his heart would not let him tell one of them to go before him. He observed the point where the oil was spitting out from and knew that the farther he got from the pillar, the less likely he would, as Joseph put it, get shredded. But he could see no way he would be able to do this without falling off. He furrowed his sweaty brow and gently pulled away from Caesar's grip and got closer to the wall of oil.

He took a slow, deep breath, covering his whole body in a visible glow of hamon.

"My blood is a symphony within me!" he yelled, reaching his hand forward.

"Jonathan!"

"Gramps!"

As soon as his wrist penetrated the gushing oil, he felt an intense amount of pain immediately shoot up his arm. Fighting through it, he managed to land his hand on the pillar and pulled himself up, gritting his teeth as pain shot up through his other arm. With both arms through, he knew the hardest part was about to smack him in the face. His heart racing and his brain scolding him for suck recklessness; he summoned the courage to finally stick his head into the sharp, discharging oil.

With his will burning, he pushed through as quick as he could, yelling his head off all the while from both pain and the overflowing amount of determination inside of him. With this final burst of willpower, he managed to pull himself halfway through the oil and quickly pulled the rest of himself through, gasping all the while as the glow of his hamon faded from sight, the rest of his energy going back to his fingertips.

"I…I did..it." he said through hard gasp. His arms and legs felt like jelly at this point, to the point where he nearly let go. But with his destination in plain view now, he continued his crawl to freedom after turning back to yell "I-I made it! You two can come through!"

"Damn, did you see that?" Joseph asked, his jaw dropped behind his mask "Gramps made it through!"

Caesar was also very impressed by this, but he knew there was no way him or Joseph could pull off the same feat without killing themselves. He was still debating whether or not to call that display insane or amazing, but that discussion could be had when he got out of this pit. Having renewed confidence in his past plan, he pushed himself off the pillar and got to his feet, charging all of his hamon into the tips of his toes.

Joseph could only watch as Caesar slipped half of his body through the oil rather quickly, much quicker than Jonathan had with his brute force approach. Within another ten seconds, the Italian was all the way though, leaving the brown haired Joestar on his own as he tried to come up with his own plan of escape.

* * *

 _Nine hours later_

 _Caesar:…?_

 _Joseph: 20 meters._

 _Jonathan:…?_

When Jonathan's hand finally touched the top of the pillar, he could not have felt a greater joy unless Erina had been waiting for him at the top with a slice of his favorite cake. Using what was left of his strength, he painfully pulled himself up, collapsing from exhaustion onto the stone.

"T-thank you father, thank you Mr. Zeppeli, for lending me your strength."

Despite the mask, his gasps were loud and raspy and he wished nothing more than to stay on the ground forever as his aching muscles and bones finally began to relax. Just as his eyes began to close and he about gave into the sweet embrace of sleep, a grunt to his right made him shoot awake and looked to see the shaky hand of Caesar Zeppeli trying its best to pull him up.

"Caesar!" he yelled and got up to his knees, crawling over to the edge where he began to pull the young man up. After twenty seconds of grunting, the young Caesar finally made it to the top, his back resting on the cold stone below before he gasped out.

"You were not supposed to help me." He said, a wry smile barely managing to cross his face. Jonathan wearily smiled back, the breathing mask proving more challenging now that his lungs had been pressured for three days.

"Apologies, but that is one rule I would not follow."

Caesar closed his eyes, attempting to relax before he shot up straight, eyes wide.

"Master!" he yelled out, jumping to his tired feet and looking around the empty tower "Master, Jojo can't possibly make it through with his level of hamon! Shut off the oil, please!"

With no sign of his master and no response, he looked over the edge of the pillar, trying to see any sign of Joseph.

"I know he's the type to try and break through without thinking it over at first! If he tries, then he'll be cut to ribbons!" he yelled, once again looking around for his master as Jonathan looked down the edge with him "Even if he doesn't, he'll still fall eighteen meters back down, that'll kill him if the oil doesn't!"

Jonathan was about to announce his intentions to jump back down before he heard a yell from his grandson come from down below.

"Cut finely, the beat of my hamon!"

Caesar's heart sunk when he heard these words, the distant sound of the oil briefly colliding with something only making it worse.

"Jojo!" he screamed.

"Joseph!" Jonathan yelled, running to the edge and preparing to jump down before he was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder that administered a small hamon shock to him, stopping his every movement in half a second. Caesar looked up and gasped.

"Master!"

Lisa Lisa smiled over to him and silently pointed her finger to the west, making the young Zeppeli turn his head so fast that it would have screwed his spine out of his body.

He saw an exhausted Joseph hanging on the outer wall of the pillar, cheering both him and Jonathan up instantly.

"That lucky fool." Caesar muttered under his breath, smiling all the while.

"But how did he do that? Did the water launch him away when he tried to break through?" Jonathan asked, recovering from the nerve numbing shock from his new master. Lisa Lisa giggled as she watched the mask wearing trickster slowly making his way up the wall.

"It may have looked like luck was on his side, but everything he did was calculated down to the last detail."

Caesar and Jonathan both looked bewildered by this and looked at Joseph climbing, noticing that not only was he past the barrier, but he was also three meters above it!

"How did he get sent flying that far?" Caesar inquired.

"He did not get sent flying; he slid along the barrier with his hamon. The oil loses its momentum the farther it sprays and he knew this, so he used the momentum he had built up to flip over the barrier. This let him clear it while also gaining three meters!" she said, amazing both Caesar and Jonathan "It's astounding, nobody has ever used such a clever tactic to clear the oil like that. He used his weakness to his advantage."

Jonathan smile down at his grandson . While he disapproved of his attitude at times, he could not deny that the boy was more clever than he could hope to be.

"I can say the same for you, Jonathan Joestar. I have never seen anyone power through the barrier like that. Caesar's method is the most common way I've seen people cross it." She said, smiling at the gentle giant. He smiled back and grabbed his shoulder, popping his neck afterward.

"Thank you Lisa Lisa, I hope to learn more from you as the month goes by."

The brown haired woman's smile widened more than she wanted it to at that statement.

"Oh no, Jojo!" Caesar yelled, getting up and rushing over to the edge where Joseph was barely hanging on, Jonathan and Lisa Lisa following close behind.

"Damn it, I think my hamon is about to…" Joseph grunted, his arms and legs shaking from exhaustion as his hamon slowly began to fade from his fingers "I can't get my breathing under control!"

His heart and stomach jumped when he felt the last of his hamon dissipate, causing him to let go of the wall. Before his short life could continue to flash before his eyes, his hand was suddenly grabbed, making him open his eyes to see that it was none other than Caesar with his grandfather close behind.

"Caesar!"

""Hang on, Jojo!" the Italian blonde said back, proceeding to try and pull Joseph up before he turned and looked at Lisa Lisa "Sorry master, I know I wasn't supposed to try and help him."

The woman stared at him silently before giggling.

"It's alright Caesar, but aren't you tired as well?"

This reminder of his current condition seemed to sap almost all his strength in an instant, making him gulp.

"Oh, I forgot."

"Caesar, don't you dare let go!" Joseph yelled frantically, sighing in relief when he saw Jonathan lay beside Caesar and grab his arm as well.

"I'm drained as well, but we may be able to pull him up together." Jonathan said, Caesar nodding in response.

After five seconds of Joseph continually screaming for them not to drop him eight times in a row, he was finally pulled to safety by the two men.

* * *

 _Pillar cleared in: Sixty one hours, nine minutes._

 _Twenty-six days till the rings dissolve._


	11. The Mysterious Red Stone of Aja!

**With how things are progressing, I believe this story may actually rap up around chapter twenty at the very least. Who knows? Not me since I don't plan anything.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **UPDATE: Redid the last scene since I felt it was kind of too "fanfic-ey" last time. Plus it was a good time to explore a little bit more of Jonathan and Joseph's relationship.  
**

* * *

 _Chapter Eleven:_

 _The Mysterious Red Stone of Aja!_

 _Three weeks later_

 _Days till the rings dissolve: 7_

Wamuu could only feel what he would call excitement as he climbed the stairs of the pyramid Kars had made their base of operations for the time being. He slowly opened the door that led into the candle lit chamber and saw his two masters looking over a desk that had a multitude of red stones on its surface.

"Ah, Wamuu, you have returned. How goes their training?" Esidisi said, making Wamuu bow at his feet upon being acknowledged.

"Swimmingly. They are improving faster than we hoped they would." He said, that excited feeling creeping back up his spine. Kars on the other hand, looked rather neutral to this information.

"Did you see them meeting up with anyone last night?"

The warrior shook his head, his eyes going back to the ground.

"No. I have not seen anyone arrive or leave since they got there."

Kars snarled at this and picked up one of the stones, seeing imperfections everywhere on it, leading him to crush it between his fingers with little effort.

"Then it is as I predicted, we have been fooled." He declared, getting up from his seat and pacing around the room.

"So what do you want to do, Kars?" Esidisi asked "We could just go to the island now, kill them while they are sleeping and just find the red stone without them."

Wamuu fought the feeling telling him to voice a disagreement on how dishonorable that was, but kept silent as his master contemplated this.

"No. Knowing them, they could be ready for us. I propose instead that we wait until the rings dissolve, sparing us the effort of killing them ourselves."

Esidisi raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Really? That's too bad; I was hoping for a good fight after all the training they did."

Wamuu pondered what he could possibly say without stepping out of line. Was a good battle really worth disrespecting his master? To promote his selfish desires over the will of Kars was something that physically hurt him to think about, but his mouth moved before he wanted it to.

"As was I, Lord Kars. May I suggest an alternative?"

Kars leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily, his fingers squeezing another imperfect red stone.

"You know it is treason to question my orders, don't you Wamuu?"

Wamuu nodded, keeping his eyes on the floor.

"Yes, Lord Kars. I know this more than anyone, but I propose that I and Esidisi go to the island and kill the hamon users. After this, we will retrieve the red stone."

He knew this plan sounded illogical when he went over it in his head. The three he had encountered before were not only stronger than ever, but the island also had three hamon masters residing on it, as he had observed during his scouting over the past month. Combined, he knew he and Esidisi could probably take them on if they were careful about picking them off one by one, but it would be a slow process that his white haired master would more than likely find boring.

Kars chuckled and shook his head after thinking his underling's suggestion over.

"Alright Wamuu, I shall grant your request. Do be careful, it would be a shame to lose you two."

With a wave of his hand, both eager Pillar Men nodded and left the chamber, Wamuu's smile barely hiding itself when he imagined getting to test that blue haired hamon user's skills once more. Esidisi was just happy to stretch his legs.

* * *

Jonathan slowly inhaled and exhaled, his eyes closed as he meditated over everything that had occurred over the past month. His training after the Hell Climb Pillar had been just as, if not more strenuous than Zeppeli's training. The two who trained him, Loggs and Meshina, were quite the tricksters and were a bit more laid back than Zeppeli, but were still strict teachers who did not tolerate failure. Their training had proven very effective, as his breathing and hamon had improved exponentially compared to how he had been just a month prior. Joseph and Caesar as well had made great leaps in their progress. Sure, Joseph complained about the duo of Joestars having to still wear the breathing mask, but he showed no slack in his training despite this.

While the training was a positive, the situation in which it had occurred had kept him up most nights, worrying about the deadly ring that slept beside his heart. He went to bed every night fearing it would be his last, either from the ring or from an ambush by the Pillar Men.

"Hey, Joestar."

Jonathan shot his eyes open and turned around, adrenaline almost making him jump up and get ready for battle. Thankfully, it was only a smiling Caesar standing behind him, who then looked confused at his sudden panic.

"Oh, it's just you Caesar." He sighed, smiling up at the young man. It caught him by surprise when he saw a small tray that held two steaming cups of tea in the young man's hand

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you." The Italian said, gesturing down to the cups of tea in his hand "I got us some tea while Jojo and Master tour the city, he wouldn't stop annoying her about the Red Stone."

Jonathan chuckled and accepted the tea, taking small sips to please his dry throat.

"Thank you Caesar, this is marvelous."

A bout of silence passed over the two as they enjoyed the sights, listening to the fountain's water churning behind them. Jonathan fumbled with the edge of his cup for a moment.

"I have been meaning to ask you about the stone myself, I only remember hearing you mention it during your bluff against the Pillar Men."

Caesar nodded and sipped his tea.

"Master told me once that it was her destiny to carry the stone and to keep it out of the hands of the Pillar Men, who covet the power it possess. What they want to do with it, I do not know.

Jonathan nodded and looked down at the paved walkway below his feet. As much as he wanted it to fade away, he could not get the feeling of guilt that caged itself in his chest every time he talked with or even looked at Caesar. His father always told him not to dwell on the past, as regrets and ponderings of what could have been would just bring him down to zero, something his mother would never want to see. Even with this in mind, he still could barely bring himself to look the blonde descendent of William in the eye.

"What is bothering you, Jonathan?" Caesar asked, already guessing the answer when the bluenette sighed.

"I apologize, Caesar. I know we discussed this when we first met, but I want you to know that I have never forgotten Wlliam's sacrifice. I will carry the weight of that night with me for the rest of my life."

The descendent of the hamon master did not say anything right away, choosing instead to look down at his tea, the liquid rippling due to a small application of his hamon.

"I know, Jonathan." He answered, looking up at the gentleman "After you saved Mark and during our training, you proved to me that you are not some gutless coward who needed to be saved that night. You are an honorable warrior, and I've come to realize that my family would not lay down their lives for cowards, only for those they deem worthy of a Zeppeli's respect."

The guilt that made a home in Jonathan's body eroded away little by little as the blonde hamon warrior spoke, the words seeming to come from a personal place within the young man, making the gentleman smile as he took another sip of his lime flavored tea.

"Thank you, Caesar. That means more to me than you could possibly know."

The two smiled in respect for one another, the evening sun hitting their faces as they listened to the birds chirping and the roar of distant cars. About ten minutes later, Caesar suggested they leave to meet up with their master and Joseph, which did not take long with a flustered Joseph loudly insisting to see the Red Stone.

"What is he up to?" Caesar asked, suspicion hanging on his tongue as he got closer to the sweaty brown haired man.

"I-I mean I want to see the stone, Master Lisa Lisa! Not what you think I meant!" Joseph blurted out, much to the confusion of both Lisa Lisa and the approaching duo of hamon users.

As if sensing the blonde man's approach, Joseph turned around bumped into the sneaking Caesar, both men falling to the ground with a loud thud.

"Oh no! Why the hell did you sneak up behind me, Caesar?" Joseph asked while rubbing his back.

"I didn't, you moron! Do you have something against me or something?"

Jonathan and their master laughed at their exchange and helped them up.

"Come on, you three. We have done enough shopping here today." The hamon master said, slinging a shopping bag over her shoulder "On the boat ride back to the island, I shall explain the Red Stone of Aja."

The ears of all three men perked up, their intrigue captured by the smiling woman as she beckoned them to follow her back to the boat. The walk back was rather quiet, aside from Joseph being prodded by Caesar about what was going on before the two of them got there. The brown haired Joestar politely insisted that he did not want to talk about it.

"The story of the Red Stone begins with the three you have trained to kill. Kars, Esidisi and Wamuu. Where, when or if they were born is a complete mystery, but we do know they appeared in human history around five thousand years ago. Along with them, they created the stone mask."

The mere mention of the cursed mask that ruined his life made his spine tremble, but he managed to fight through the memories to listen to his new master.

"They would capture humans and test the effects of their creation. Men, women, children, the of thousands of people." She paused, turning around to face the warm waves of the sea as the sun began to set. She then turned toward Jonathan.

"Speedwagon once told me you were researching the mask before your encounter with Dio. Am I wrong?"

Jonathan recoiled slightly, surprised that she had been in contact with Speedwagon before they met and the fact that they knew of that at all. Did Speedwagon manage to salvage his notes on the subject? Despite his confusion, he shook his head.

"No, you are not."

"Did you uncover anything?"

The gentleman shook his head again, looking her in the eyes.

"Not as much as I wanted. My thesis was entirely about the mask, but it was over its basic reaction to human blood." He felt a shiver go up his spine "I am fortunate I never tried to test it on anything."

Lisa Lisa nodded and turned around, seeing her island coming over the horizon as she continued her tale.

"Scientist to this day can only theorize what the spines do once they pierce the brain. Some say it unlocks the hidden potential of the human mind, but this is just speculation. However, the spines are not strong enough to pierce the brains of the Pillar Men."

She reached into her shirt and produced one of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry Jonathan had ever seen aside from his mother and father's rings.

"That is why they need the Red Stone Aja! It will give the mask the power to finally unlock their full potential."

Jonathan gulped down his fear along with the other two men beside him and nodded, the objective of protecting the beautiful jewel putting itself behind protecting his friends and family. He had to wonder, what was the full potential of the jewel and why did the Pillar Men create the stone mask? It was a question that his archeological self begged him to find an answer for, but it was one that would have to wait. As they neared the island, the sun was hovering over the horizon and he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched.

"The one who created the stone mask is the smartest of trio, Kars."

Caesar's heart rate jumped for a second upon hearing that name, the ring in his chest coming back to the forefront of his mind after so many days of trying to ignore it.

"They crossed the Atlantic, trying to find the perfect stone to use with their cursed mask. They soon found out it was in the possession of the Roman Emperor!" she said, pulling the necklace off of her and holding the stone up to bloke the path of the sun. In that moment, all three men saw the stone beginning to glow. Then as if it could not glow any brighter, the light focused into a single area near the center.

Jonathan, Joseph and Caesar almost jumped out of their seats when a beam of light shot out of the gemstone and into the ocean behind them. The beam was about a meter away from Jonathan's cheek, but he could still feel the immense heat, causing sweat to form and immediately evaporate on the left side of his face. He, along with Joseph and Caesar, jumped away as soon as it was fired, looking at Lisa Lisa in confused wonder. The beam instantly dissipated when their teacher pulled the gem away from the path of the sun, holding it up for them to see.

"This is the Super Aja! The stone they traveled so many miles to find!"

"What the hell!? Don't point it at us again you moron!" Joseph exclaimed, causing Caesar's nose to flare up.

"Don't call Master a moron, you bastard!"

"That is enough you two, settle down!" Jonathan said, trying to calm things before they spiraled. Lisa Lisa did not seem to notice their spat.

"The hamon tribe sacrificed much to protect this stone and it narrowly fell into their hands during the massacre they committed against all hamon users. Now it is my destiny to protect it from their grasp."

Jonathan nodded and looked to his grandson, seeing the young man in deep thought.

"So after a while they got bored and took a nap for two thousand years when they couldn't find it?

Lisa Lisa went to nod before the Joestar burst out laughing at his own joke. Caesar's anger from earlier returned in full force when he got in his rival's face.

"This is no laughing matter, Jojo!" he yelled, Joseph recoiling in shock from the sudden outburst.

"Alright, settle down Caesar!"

Jonathan was about to interject and try to calm the blonde Zeppeli's anger before Joseph burst out.

"Just destroy it!"

"What?" Lisa Lisa responded as Joseph pointed to the medallion around her neck.

"Destroy that thing! That way they'll never get their hands on it!"

"No, I cannot. The prophecy forbids me from doing so."

Joseph ran a hand through his hair in frustration and groaned.

"Prophecy, what prophecy!?"

Lisa Lisa ignored her student's rude tone and answered calmly, her voice like that of ice.

"It is said that if I were to destroy it, then it would be impossible to defeat them."

Joseph went to ask another question in his frustrated tone before Jonathan grabbed him by the arm, shaking his head silently when he got a glare from his grandson.

"Jonathan, Caesar and Joseph. When we return to the island, your final trial will begin."

"The final trial?" All three students asked, their bodies and minds dreading what could possibly come next. Jonathan strengthened his resolve when he took a deep breath, his already iron will reinforcing itself when he recalled everything at risk. Without his knowing, his hand moved up to his neck, feeling the two small scars from that horrid night from fifty years into a past that only seemed like yesterday to him.

He would not fail again and when he stepped onto the docks of the island, ignoring the flood of questions Joseph was hurling at Caesar like balls of lead, he again felt that sensation. Someone was out there, and he had only one guess as to who it was.

* * *

Jonathan opened his eyes and returned his breathing to normal, finishing his long bout of meditation after his final trial with Meshina. It was just a difficult as the other trials he had faced the past month, but it still was dwarfed by the mighty Hell Climb Pillar. The truly stressing part was the finale where he sparred with his mustached teacher. He did not let the fact that he won get to his head, however. It was thanks to them that he had even gotten this far in the first place.

Speaking of thanks, it had been a surprise to him when Lisa Lisa presented him with the very clothes he had wore when he fought Dio that final time in the vampire's mansion: a blue tight fitting tank top with brown shoulder pads, a grey pair of jeans, two brown gloves with gold orb knuckles and a pair of multi strap boots. The question of where she got them and how was a question he would ask later, but he was grateful for the change of clothes from the simple suit he had been wearing after Wamuu shredded his previous sweater given to him by Erina.

"Hey gramps, you ready for my trial?" Joseph yelled, having just crossed the bridge to the secluded island. Jonathan looked up at his grandson in confusion, getting to his feet.

"Oh, am I going to fight Loggs with you? Or are you inviting me to watch" the gentleman questioned, earning a head shake from Joseph, who proceeded to get into a fighting stance.

"You can watch when he gets here, but right now I want to try you on for size, gramps!"

Jonathan tilted his head in confusion for a moment, thinking this over. A smile that he wasn't sure was under his control appeared on his face the more he thought about it. He had been curious of how Joseph fought since the two times he had observed the young man in combat, and the perfect way to learn it fully was to experience it for himself.

"Alright Joseph, don't hold anything back!" Jonathan demanded, getting into his own battle stance. Joseph smirked at this.

"You sure, gramps? Speedwagon told me stories about how you fought way back then!" the trickster said, backing up until both men were on opposite sides of the spiked arena Jonathan donned a rarely seen smirk in response.

"I have been observant of the way you fight as well, Joseph. I won't be so predictable!"

Jonathan charged a bit of hamon into his fist, just enough to give the arrogant teen a jolt rather than any sort of harmful shock. Joseph did the same and the duo stepped into the arena.

"Here I come, Joseph!"

Jonathan charged forward and to his surprise, Joseph charged to meet him, both men screaming their heart out. The two exchanged a flurry of fist before jumping back and repeating the process a few more times, the two almost in perfect sync with the other. Jonathan was surprised at Joseph's lack of trickery during their bout, but he chalked it up to the mutual respect they shared. That or he only brought out the tricks against those he held ill will toward.

"Joseph, if I may," Jonathan politely pried in the middle of their bout "Who taught you hamon?"

"Nobody! I've been able to use it since I was a kid!"

Jonathan blocked a hamon charged kick and went to counter, but missed his mark by an inch.

"Really? I thought maybe Straizo would have trained you."

Joseph paused, stopping his attack and looking down at the spikes upon which they stood.

"No, I never even met the guy until he tried to kill me."

Jonathan's guard dropped all the way at that point, and he did nothing but stare at his frowning grandson.

"W-what? Why would he do such a thing?"

Joseph spat, the memory coming back to him.

"Because he was a moron who wanted to live forever, so he used the stone mask and nearly killed Speedwagon to activate it." Joseph said, his fist clenching in fury "That dumbass was lucky I wasn't there when he did it, I would have made short work of him right then and there."

Jonathan was still trying to process this, the sparring match the last thing in the back of his mind. Not only did he betray the memory of Dire, but he betrayed the memory of Zeppeli and Tonpetty as well! For a while the man just stood there, the thoughts he was trying to process too clouded by his anger to properly articulate.

"Hey grandpa, you okay?"

The words of his grandson snapped him out of whatever strange mix of emotions he was feeling, anger being the most dominant.

"Yes, I am fine Joseph. Thank you for telling me."

His words betrayed the somber tone he said them in, Joseph's wit seeing through the mask of politeness immediately. Instead of pressing further, the brown haired man nodded, his fist balling up again.

"Come on gramps, let's get back to it before Loggs gets here!"

Jonathan met the eyes of his family member and nodded, a smile thanking his descendant for not pressing further. Their match went well, Joseph barely being able to hold back his usual roguish behavior according to the glint in the young man's bluish green eyes that instantly faded away whenever he looked back at his opponent. Jonathan was almost ready to halt the sparring so he could tell him to do as he asked earlier. However, Joseph's pupils shrank and he gasped, effectively halting the match.

"Joseph, what is-"

"E-Esidisi!?"

Jonathan did not wait a second longer, the nobleman turning around and looking up at the small observing tower that sat nearby. Sitting on the roof of said tower was none other than a smirking Esidisi, who held the body of instructor Loggs in the air with just one hand. The smirk went away when the ancient white haired being looked around, observing the arena the two human's were standing in.

"This place doesn't seem like an island people would live on, however I admire its potential as an arena." He sneered, his eyes looking north toward the main island "Which means our stone should be right over there."

Jonathan barely had time to speak before another figure came from behind one of the decorative gargoyles, his name being shouted by the blue haired gentleman.

"Wamuu!"

The giant of a warrior looked down at Jonathan, an excited smile quickly being put down by a frown as he looked to his master.

"Shall I go investigate while you handle them, Lord Esidisi?"

The aforementioned master laughed, tossing the body of the hamon master down to the stone floor below, a sickening crunch echoing through the air.

"No, I think it would be faster and more fun if we teamed up for this one, Wamuu. Been too long since we've done that."

The kneeling man nodded, getting to his feet as both Pillar Men looked down at their ring bearers.

"H-hey, this isn't fair! We still have six days to train!" Joseph yelled, hiding his horror at the fate of his coach. Esidisi waved him off, the two super beings jumping down to meet the hamon users.

"Wamuu has told me and Kars of your growth over the past month," he said, popping his neck eagerly "And my boredom wouldn't let me sit any longer."

Joseph looked down at the body of his teacher, his worry vanishing when he saw both a hole in the older man's throat and one in his chest, confirming he was dead. The rogue tightened his fist, every painful moment of the past few weeks coming back as he thought of the payback that would never come for the master, thanks to the very being he had been training for.

Jonathan was horrified at the death as well, but knew nothing could be done, the trembling of his lip stopping and his eyes closing when he observed the wounds. He then looked to Wamuu, his eyes holding both excitement and apathy in tandem somehow. A growl from behind Joseph's mask drawing his attention.

"Alright, then it's time to get that ring I've been nearly dying over for the past month!" Joseph yelled, beckoning the two beings closer "Come on, me and gramps will kill you bastards in no time!"

The gaze of both honor bound warriors never parted, each one sending a different message to the other. Jonathan was the first to break it by nodding in agreement with his grandson, his fist balling up and his body becoming surrounded by a yellow glow as he took a deep breath in tandem with Joseph.

"That's right! It's time to show you the power of the Joestar family!"

Even as he said this, he could not help but reignite the conflict within his chest. It was strange, but he really didn't want to fight Wamuu, at least not too the death. He could not help but feel the compassionate and honorable side of him beg for a way to try and redeem the ancient man. Was that even possible? Bruford was an example to the contrary of his doubts, but would it be possible to do again? He didn't have time to think it over any more, as the duo of Pillar Men stepped into the arena, their feet being impaled by the spikes. This did not slow them down as they walked closer, each one of them facing the one who had their ring.

Jonathan and Joseph let out a yell, being the first to attack.


	12. Ambushed! Feel the Joestar Hamon (1)

**If you have not already, I would recommend you go back and read chapter eleven again since I changed the ending scene. I had the original chapter nearly finished, but I decided that I had no idea how to write it properly. So, I changed things to make it feel more Jojo and less obvious wish fulfillment.**

 **Also, apologies for the delay. College finals are about as fun as you can imagine.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Chapter Twelve:_

 _Ambushed! Feel the Joestar Hamon! (1)_

Jonathan's conscience was battling it out just as fiercely as he was with Wamuu at the moment. The Pillar Men were the creators of the stone mask, the very thing that destroyed his life and gave Dio the power to nearly conquer the world. He had lost everything thanks to their creation. By all accounts, he should feel no shame whatsoever battling the being before him. But he did and it was a shame that felt all too familiar, harkening back fifty years ago.

As Jonathan barely connected a zoom punch to Wamuu's chest, the being's body having contorted once again to dodge, the gentleman leapt backwards and collided with the back of his grandson.

"How're you doing, gramps?" Joseph asked as he wiped some sweat from his forehead.

"Not so good, almost all of my attacks are missing!" Jonathan whispered, keeping his eyes on the impatient Wamuu. Joseph wiped some sweat off his brow, his expression one of frustration.

"This bastard is just as slippery! Not to mention he's downright unpredictable!" The gentleman breathed again, the aura of hamon refreshing itself from the intake of oxygen.

"Don't give up Joseph! As much as it pains me as gentleman to say this, use his weaknesses against him if you have to." Jonathan said, a smirk appearing on his grandson's face afterwards.

"Don't I always?"

Jonathan chuckled inwardly and let out a battle cry, charging at Wamuu again. The taller warrior shook his head.

"The same attack?" he questioned in disappointment. Just as he prepared to contort his body once again, Jonathan surprised him by withdrawing his stretched-out fist and drawing his right leg back.

"Sendo Wave Kick!"

The move was quick and it was surprising enough for him to mistime his dodge, leading him to getting hit with a blast of hamon in the ribs. Wamuu jumped back, the burning in his ribs was not as painful as he expected and when he looked to the warrior who struck him, he saw why. The look of worry and hesitance made it clear that the blue maned human had been holding back.

"What's this? I am going to honor my request of giving you a warrior's death, I suggest you do the same." Wamuu said simply, his skin regenerating faster than the hamon could spread. Jonathan kept his eyes locked with the warrior's own, shaking his head slightly.

"If at all possible, Wamuu, I will end this fight with the both of us standing."

Wamuu chuckled and crossed his arms.

"Your naivete is equal with your skill, it seems. This is an honorable battle, Jonathan, not a sparring match."

Jonathan popped his neck and balled his fist up again.

"Death is not synonymous with an honorable battle, Wamuu!" he said, his chest aching with hope that he would be able to pacify the ancient being with words. The smirk Wamuu bore was enough to smother that hope like a bear crushing a flower.

"Were you any other hamon user, I would call you a fool. All I will say is that you take this battle seriously from now on, Jonathan Joestar!"

Wamuu punctuated his sentence by charging incredibly fast, twice as fast as any vampire could. A gasp came from the gentleman as he raised his arms to block. The blow was as devastating as he imagined it would be. If his body hadn't been radiating hamon, he was sure Wamuu would have broken both of his arms with that blow. Fortunately, he broke only one and when the Pillar Man reared back for another blow, Jonathan used his good arm to meet the fist. With a good amount of hamon flowing through his arm, his fist collided with Wamuu's,

In an instant, Wamuu's hand was blown off from the concentrated dose of hamon, but the warrior did not show more than a wince for his reaction before he jumped back. Jonathan tried to flex his fingers but found that three of them were fractured, a groan escaping him as the pain that had been dulled by the sun like energy came all at once.

"D-darn it, now all I have is my legs for attacking!" Jonathan mumbled, his temporarily useless left arm twitching as the hamon got to work. Wamuu looked down at his stump in a mixture of pride and shock.

"Astounding. In all my years as a warrior, not once have I ever lost more than a finger against even the strongest of hamon masters!" Wamuu looked to his glowing stump, noticing a rather disturbing lack of pain racing up his arm. Then he chuckled "Again you show pity, but you have gained an impressive amount of control over your hamon to not let it flow up my arm."

"It is not pity, Wamuu. I am showing respect for a fellow warrior." Jonathan said, his words riling up memories of his father and his former master. A part of him took those words as a betrayal to those he had lost, but he knew they wouldn't want him to become a revenge driven mad man who threw away his code of conduct to satisfy such a selfish urge.

Wamuu closed his eyes to think the human's words over. Then he heard a yell on the opposite side of the arena, halting his response when he recognized the voice of his master.

Jonathan turned when he heard it as well, seeing Joseph standing over a crouching Esidisi. The young man was holding a thin string in his left hand and was stunned to see what looked like an arm impaled on the spikes nearby.

"You may be over a thousand years older than I am, but you're not near as smart as me when it comes to cooking up plans in battle!" Joseph laughed and kicked the impaled arm, his foot charged with hamon. The limb spun on the spikes and the hamon disintegrated the skin and muscle in a matter of seconds, leaving nothing but the bones behind as the cackling of Joseph Joestar rang out.

"Y-you little…!" Esidisi seethed

"Oh, are you going to get mad? Does losing your arm make you furious?" Joseph then crossed his arms, his teeth gritting as he pointed at the man before him "Then get angry! I've been furious ever since you put that damned ring next to my heart!"

Jonathan turned back toward Wamuu, who looked furious at the words and display at the expense of his master. Jonathan was more annoyed at the display of dishonorable taunting and attitude of his grandson.

"Joseph, your opponent is down! There is no need to taunt him!" Jonathan scolded, making Joseph roll his eyes and turn to face his disappointed ancestor.

"Come on gramps! This guy has put me through hell! Surely I can get a little-"

A low whimpering sound shut down the arguing, making both Jojo's turn to face the shaking form of Esidisi. That whimper then turned into a loud sob, which then turned into incoherent blubbering as a flood of tears flowed freely from the orange paint covered, white haired Pillar Man's eyes.

"M-m-my arm! M-my poor arm!" Esidisi wailed, crouching over his lost limb and picked it up, pathetically crying over it as if he had lost a former friend or family member. Jonathan could not believe his eyes and ears, Joseph mirroring his bewilderment as the man debated his next move. The gentleman had witnessed many things in his life. His adoptive brother turning into a vampire before his eyes, the miracles of hamon, Jack the Ripper as a zombie slave to Dio and facing down two ancient knights who he had read about in history books. But a two-thousand-year-old warrior who had a hand in creating the very thing that had caused those previous events bawling over a missing limb was the most bizarre and creepy thing he had ever witnessed.

Jonathan's eyes went back to Wamuu and instantly knew something was wrong. Rather than charging at and flaying Joseph alive for driving his comrade and master into such a sorry state, the honorable warrior simply stood there with a small smile on his face with crossed arms.

"Joseph, get out of there!" Jonathan yelled, the trickster stopping his cautious approach at the warning. Then it just stopped. Esidisi sat upright and remained motionless for a few seconds before he slowly rose to his feet.

"Whew, I feel better." The painted warrior said and turned to face the three other occupants of the spiked battleground "Sorry to keep you waiting Wamuu, just had to release some stress there."

Wamuu smiled and waved it off.

"It is quite alright master Esidisi. To drive you to such a state, though. Joseph Joestar must be worthier of battling with you than I thought." He said, the two Pillar Men seeming to forget that the existence of the two still confused Jojos. Esidis laughed in response, marching over toward the edge of the battlefield.

"Indeed, he is." He replied to his subordinate, turning back to his opponent "You brought up Sun Tzu earlier, right? I visited China during his lifespan. 'All war is based on deception!' is what you were going for, wasn't it? Trying to get me angry to get inside my head."

Joseph flinched as Esidisi walked over to the corpse of Loggs, raising his foot over one of his arms.

"However," he stomped, the arm flying off its deceased owner for Esidisi to pick up "I cannot be angered." He claimed, raising the arm and placing it over his stump. After holding it there for a second, the arm of Loggs had fused with the stump as Esidisi flexed his new fingers and tightened his muscles. Jonathan observed all of this, infuriated at the disrespect.

"You…would steal an arm from a corpse!?" Joseph yelled, voicing Jonathan's thoughts as well. Esidisi simply smirked and strolled back into the arena.

"It's a little slim, but it'll grow in time." The unpredictable being said, looking once more to Wamuu and noticed his missing hand "Help yourself, Wamuu. Kars won't like it if you don't come back in full form."

Wamuu looked to Jonathan and saw the disgust in the honorable human's eyes over the actions of Esidisi and knew the blue haired man would feel the same anger toward him if he defiled the body of one of his masters.

"Of course, master Esidisi." He replied, marching out of the arena and cutting off the dead man's right hand with a single, accurate chop and fitted it to his stump, it barely fitting over the ancient honor bound warrior's injury. And when Wamuu went to the side of his master, the corpse of Loggs began to convulse rapidly, his head swelling to the size of watermelon before bursting into a cloud of blood. Jonathan and Joseph reared back, the blood feeling incredibly scalding when it hit their skin. Esidisi whistled.

"Close one Wamuu, you almost didn't get your hand back."

Jonathan and Joseph both slowly recovered from the horrifying desecration of the corpse of Loggs, their minds attempting to clear themselves for the tag team battle to come. The only problem is the Pillar Men were fit and ready for such a fight.

Jonathan was battered and Joseph was struggling to come up with a plan after being exposed to such monstrous actions and confusing tactics.

They did not have time to think however, as Esidisi's fingernails opened up and revealed tendril like veins that seemed to hover in the air, leaking his boiling blood.


	13. Ambushed! Feel the Joestar Hamon! (2)

**Forty followers and a recommendation on the Jojo fanfic recs TV Tropes page? That's two life goals off the bucket list. I apologize for the long breaks between chapters recently, caught a bad case of the writer's block and Dark Souls. Thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Chapter Thirteen:_

 _Ambushed! Feel the Joestar Hamon! (2)_

"Oh, have you figured it out yet? I pumped my boiling blood into that master of yours when I got his arm!" Esidisi claimed, his veins swishing through the air like the tentacles of a kraken "When you animals exercise or fight off an illness, your bodies heat up a little. I can raise my blood's temperature up to six-hundred degrees Celsius!"

Jonathan flexed his healed fingers, the hamon having just repaired his latest injury. His broken left arm was a different story, as it still had more than twenty minutes left to go before it healed completely. He had halfway deduced Esidisi's ability before the master of Wamuu had bragged about it and it was a rather strange yet horrifying talent, very fitting he thought.

"Grandpa, you alright?" Joseph asked, his eyes staying on the duo of monsters as he took a step back. Jonathan nodded, one hand on his currently useless arm.

"I can still fight Joseph, do not worry." He answered while straightening his posture, seeing the worry in his grandson's eyes when they met gazes. A confirmation smile from the gentleman barely dwindled the flame of worry inside the trickster, but he nodded and turned back toward his smirking opponent.

Jonathan faced his own challenger, the frowning Wamuu who continued to exercise his newly acquired hand from the hamon user's deceased master. Jonathan fought down his anger like a man beating a tiger with a twig, remembering his hopeful plan for the honorable being. Judging from the look in his eye when the Pillar Man looked back at the Joestar, he found the plan that danced in the eyes of his human opponent to be not even worth mocking anymore.

"If your broken arm impedes you too much, then I will end the fight here." Wamuu stated, Jonathan wincing at the apathy in his tone.

"It will take more than a broken arm to slow me down, Wamuu." The blue haired gentleman said, his breathing having returned to its normal pace. The master of wind smirked but did not taunt him any further. Instead, the warrior raised his arms above his head and looked to the sky.

"I truly hope you are not bluffing, Jonathan Joestar. If you are, then this battle will end now."

Jonathan watched in curious horror as several small cylinder shaped bulges began to rise from different areas of Wamuu's body, struggling to break skin. When they did, Jonathan saw that they were bone constructed tubes of some sort that began to spray high pressure steam that started to scover the honorable Pillar Man. The gentleman struggled to see through the quickly building mist, but the cloud of air was too thick to see through. When the veil lifted, Jonathan gasped.

"He's-" The man paused, his eyes scanning the entire battlefield more than once "He's gone!"

Suddenly, an idea popped into Jonathan's head and he looked down to where the warrior had been standing on the spikes. His idea was shot down in an instant when he saw no trace of blood around the arena from Wamuu's impaled feet.

"I-If he isn't walking, then that could only mean-"

A small, yet noticeable sting of pain on the nape of his neck made his heart nearly stop. Thinking quickly, he leapt away, his hamon shielding his hand and knees as he slid across the spikes. A familiar sounding chuckle seemed to come from everywhere at once as the young man got to his feet.

"Smart of you, Jonathan. Had you been a split second late, I would have taken your head." Wamuu stated with amusement, the blue haired Joestar trying his best to pinpoint the source.

"His voice is bouncing off the wind like light in a maze of mirrors!" He said, his broken arm still twitching as the bones began to realign and fix themselves with the hamon flowing through his body. Calming his nerves with a single breath, he closed his eyes, clenching his one working fist as he began to concentrate.

Then a part of his mind that seemed to have sealed itself away finally opened as the words of his old master resonated through him.

" _Put yourself in the mind of the enemy. Imagine what you would do in their place, Jojo."_

It was almost like Will Zeppeli was beside him again, giving him nuggets of wisdom even during a heated battle. Jonathan slowed his breathing down to a crawl as he began to imagine the layout of the battlefield, pushing out the sounds of his grandson and Esidisi's battle not twenty feet away from him.

"My trembling heart…"

He felt it, the flow of the hamon in his body had gotten stronger, increasing his senses as well. The gentle night breeze belted against his glowing skin as he continued to breath.

"This unrelenting heat…."Then the breeze grew sharp, cutting his skin slightly as he followed it with his ears. He tightened his fist and prepared his leg muscles.

"Cut finely, beat of my blood!"

It was then that he leaped into the air, the glow of the full moon at his back as he reached his high point. In the split second he eclipsed the moon with his small shadow, he caught a glimpse of what appeared to be an outline of Wamuu in the pale light of the sun's brother. When Wamuu looked to see that his opponent had met him in the sky, it was too late to do anything but block.

"Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!"

While the punch barrage was somewhat impeded by his still healing arm, the overflow of hamon blocked out his pain as he landed blow after blow on the previously invisible warrior before him. Each punch was like being hit by the sun itself, his arms soon rendered to jelly by the raining of fist. With one final punch, Wamuu was sent flying back to the ground, his melting arms making his landing even more difficult as he landed outside of the spiked arena.

Wamuu breathed in as both of his arms disintegrated, leaving him on his knees as he saw a brilliant yellow glow slowly walking toward him. He grimaced, his pride berating him for being put in such a pathetic state. But at the same time, he could not fight off a smirk as the young human who had given him these wounds stopped in front of him.

"You truly are the most powerful human I have ever fought. But I am curious, how did you know where I was?"

Jonathan broke his sorrowful frown and put a finger to his head, smiling lightly.

"We think alike in more ways than you know, Wamuu."

Wamuu chuckled, closing his eyes and bowing his head.

"I could not have asked for a more honorable death than this." The warrior said, feeling the stumps of his arms still burning from the gentleman's barrage. Suddenly, the pain stopped as the hamon seemed to fizzle away from inside of him, his regenerative ability soon overpowering it. The warrior then sighed, his head still facing the ground.

"Again, you show me pity."

Jonathan shook his head again, his muscles relaxing as he looked down at the honorable man before him.

"As I said before Wamuu, I do not pity you. I respect your pride and your abilities as a warrior." He said, the memory of another who resembled Wamuu in character and pride taking hold of his mind as he recalled the vow he made after that battle.

The ancient Pillar Man simply stayed on his knees, tossing the words of the human before him around his head. No mere man stood before him, he was in the presence of a truly honorable warrior, something he had been desperate to fight all his life. But was he truly a warrior if he refused to deal the final blow? This question hung at the back of his throat as he prepared to ask it to the mask wearing Joestar.

"How dare you do this to me!"

The loud shriek came from non-other than Esidisi, making both warriors look to the opposite side of the battlefield. Jonathan was wide eyed as he saw the former proud looking Pillar Man wrapped in a hamon charged rope from head to toe, looking rather horrific as the hamon melted through his skin and to his bones. As his life seemed to fade, the arena was covered in a blinding light that seemed to come from the now skinless Pillar Man.

"Go on, let it out! Let that light disappear along with the power you gained from killing all of those people!" Joseph yelled furiously, his grip on the rope stronger than ever. Then everything went quiet, the bones of Esidisi falling onto the spikes along with his decorative armor. A tiny clang sounded as the nose ring that contained the antidote Joseph sought landed on one of the spikes.

"Master Esidisi!" Wamuu yelled, springing to his feet when he saw the state of his master. Jonathan was too slow to stop him, running over to his confused grandson's side just in case the warrior lashed out.

Instead, Wamuu simply stared at the bones of his master and looked to Joseph, seeing the antidote ring in the human trickster's hand. Jonathan saw the grief in the proud, armless Pillar Man's eyes as he looked over both Joestars.

Wamuu straightened himself, standing tall as he looked to the sky.

"You died an honorable death, Master. I will inform Kars of your passing." He said, giving the hamon users before him one last look. Jonathan could not distinguish what was in his eyes, but he was surprised when he saw the warrior's eyes widen before quickly calming down "We shall finish this next we meet, Jonathan Joestar."

"Hey wait a minute! Gramps hasn't-"

Wamuu leaped high into the air, landing on the arena's observation tower and disparaged into the night with a splash. Jonathan looked to where he last saw the warrior and nodded, vowing to do better next time in his attempts to reform the Pillar Man.

"Why did you let him go! He has your antidote!" Joseph yelled, his tone one of anger but his words revealed the worry he held for his ancestor. Jonathan shook his head and smiled at the young man.

"Do not worry about me Joseph, I will get mine in time." He said, gesturing toward the ring in Joseph's hand "I think it is time you take yours now."

Joseph continued to stare at his grandfather with worry but nodded nonetheless, pulling a piece of the ring off to reveal a gooey white liquid that dribbled out of the ring, making Joseph wince.

"I can't help but think of this as snot now." He said, gagging a bit as he swallowed the antidote. Now that the pressure of the Pillar Men was gone, Jonathan just now noticed that Joseph's breathing mask was gone.

"Joseph, what happened to your mask?" he asked as Joseph pounded his chest and sighed happily.

"Oh, Esidisi's boiling blood melted it off." He said with a shrug "Besides, I didn't need it anymore anyway. I'm plenty strong now without it!"

Jonathan chuckled and shook his head. Some would call the young man's attitude arrogant, but he could not help but admire his confidence. The blue haired man then took off ahead of his descendent and gestured him to follow.

"Come on Joseph, we must tell master Lisa Lisa about the attack so we can figure out what to do next."

After taking a stretch, Joseph nodded and started to walk. He stopped for a second or two scratched his neck, swearing that he felt something tickling him there. Shrugging off the feeling as adrenaline from the fight, he went to catch up to his grandfather.


	14. The Last Throes of a Monster!

**College and Overwatch are one heck of a distraction, sorry guys.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Chapter Fourteen:_

 _The Last Throes of a Monster!_

The morning sun slowly made its presence known by shining its rays into the humongous mansion Jonathan had called home for almost a whole month. The new dawn refreshed the memories of the battle that had taken place barely five minutes ago, but the part that stood out the most was the loss of instructor Loggs. The blue haired gentleman's eyes went to the ground as he reminisced the last conversation they had had just an hour prior to the fight. It had been a light-hearted debate over whether or not his Chamomile tea was superior to the Belle Classic tea Jonathan had been drinking. The debate was settled when Caesar and Joseph volunteered to taste both, with the results being a tie like he expected. Loggs gave a smirk and declared that he would make the best tea he could next time. Such fateful words obviously had to have doom attached to them, like they always did when he was around.

"Gramps, you okay?"

Jonathan raised his head and realized that he had stopped walking, with Joseph having taken a few steps ahead.

"I'm sorry Joseph, I was pondering the past." He said simply, raising his head as he continued to walk "Come, we must not keep Master waiting."

Joseph nodded, obviously not over the state of his grandfather, before continuing along with him. The walk was silent aside from their echoing footsteps until Joseph let out a groan.

"Damn, my shoulder is killing me." He said, stopping in his tracks to flex his currently sore shoulder, wincing slightly from the pain.

"Really? Would you like me to heal it with hamon?" Jonathan offered, knowing that his grandson's own hamon would probably take care of it in about ten minutes. Joseph shook his head.

"Nah, I think I'll head off to the bathroom. May just be pent up adrenaline or stress."

Jonathan nodded, smiling at the young warrior.

"That is fine, I will relay the message to Master Lisa Lisa myself."

With a confirmation nod and one last complaint from Joseph, the two parted ways with Jonathan barely remembering where the route to their Master's room was. When he came upon it, he ascended the spiral staircase that led up to her chambers and, rather ridiculously, felt a sense of anxiety for going into a lady's room uninvited. He knew it was foolish, but the his gentlemanly upbringing would not let him forget the lessons his father preached to him every day, even during a time like this.

When he reached the top, he was not too surprised to see the maid of the mansion, one Ms. Suzie Q, gently shutting Lisa Lisa's door behind her. She looked surprised to see him, however.

"Mr. Jonathan, just the man I wanted to see!" She said, her voice as cheerful as ever as she skipped toward him "Ms. Lisa Lisa wanted to see you, Jojo and Caesar. She said it was important!"

Jonathan smiled down at her and nodded

"Thank you, Suzie Q, I was on my way to meet up with her myself." He said, taking a step forward before the blonde woman gasped and tugged at his sleeve.

"I'm sorry Mr. Jonathan, but she is currently taking a bath. She should be out in half and hour." She said, giggling when she saw the giant of a man turn red.

"Oh yes, thank you Suzie Q." He said through an embarrassed smile, nodding a goodbye to her as she descended the stairs. With nothing to do but wait, he leaned against the wall and looked down at the docks below though the huge window beside him. The dawn light reflected off of the endless blue of the ocean, painting the stone dock a light orange as the delivery boat came over the horizon. He smiled as he imagined getting another letter from his beautiful wife, wishing the threat of the Pillar Men would end so he could hold her in his arms once more instead of just exchanging letters. While he could not write as often as he wanted to, something she sometimes pointed out in her own letters, he always made sure to make every one that he could write something she would hold dear as she hoped for him to get home. Speedwagon had been writing to him and Joseph as well, pouring out as much support for the two as he could as per usual. He had even received a letter from Alvaro, strangely enough. The lad had found his parents and had somehow found out where he went, he told him not to "sweat the small stuff" when he brought up it up. Either way, he was happy for the child.

He reached up to scratch his chin as thoughts of a certain blonde Italian man meshed along with the subject of letters. Caesar had never received any letters from anyone, as far as he could tell anyway. While he was not one to pry, he wondered if the young Hamon user had family troubles or if they even knew where he was.

A loud yawn shook these thoughts away as he saw his tired looking grandson ascend the stairs, the young man looking surprised when he saw his grandfather outside their master's chambers.

"What's going on gramps? Did you tell her the message yet?"

Jonathan shook his head, gesturing toward the door.

"I'm afraid not. Master is taking a bath at the moment, so I have just been enjoying this wondrous view until she gets done." He responded, looking back out the window as Joseph joined him on the other side of the window. Jonathan then perked up when he looked at the trickster's shoulders, remembering his complaints "Is your shoulder pain gone?"

"Yeah, but it's weird. It just disappeared after I talked with Suzie Q on the way here." He said, pressing a finger to his head before smirking at his grandfather "She is really cute, don't you think so gramps?"

Jonathan chuckled before nodding

"Yes, she is quite cute, I'll admit." He said before donning a small smirk of his own "Something tells me you like her, Joseph."

Joseph laughed as well at his grandfather's polite teasing before waving him off.

"I've always been a 'any port in a storm' kind of guy, it'll be a while before a woman tames my wild beast." He said while flexing his brows, making Jonathan roll his eyes after chuckling again. The blue haired gentleman peaked out the window and saw the subject of their conversation standing on the dock below as she handed something to the boat's captain. The man looked the letter over and nodded at whatever Suzie Q had said, getting in the boat and taking off into the horizon.

Strange, maybe that wasn't the delivery boat then?

"Nice!"

Jonathan looked out for a moment more as the blonde maid walked back toward the mansion before turning toward Joseph after hearing his strange comment. Or he would have if his grandson had still been by the window. When he saw where the roguish man was now, he let out a loud gasp.

"Joseph, what in the world are you doing?!" He almost yelled, barely able to keep his voice down in the face of such debauchery. Instead of backing away in shame or cooking up some excuse, Joseph kept looking through the keyhole, seeming to be focusing on something that Jonathan would rather not know.

"Joseph this behavior is-"

"Gramps, did you see Suzie Q walk in here at any point?"

Jonathan's gentlemanly anger sizzled away somewhat upon hearing this genuine inquiry and shook his head, crossing his arms afterward.

"No I didn't, why do you ask?"

Joseph did not answer, a wet squelch sound coming from Joseph hand as he pulled it away from the door knob. The golden knob appeared to be covered in some sort of green, sticky substance.

"What the hell?" Joseph questioned as he rubbed the substance in between his fingers.

"It looks like some sort of mucus." Jonathan observed, placing his finger on the door knob to feel the strange, sticky material. Both men's thoughts were interrupted by a yell from within the room.

"Who are you and what have you done with the Red Stone!?"

"Master Lisa Lisa!" Jonathan yelled, going to open the door. However, he once again found himself in conflict with his upbringing. It was only for a moment however, as his Master's life was at stake from the sound of things.

With a twist, he opened the door and reached one of his arms up to cover his eyes, much to the amusement of Joseph.

"Master, is everything okay?" he called out, only to be interrupted by a familiar voice he never thought he would hear again.

"Look at me, reduced to nothing but a brain without a body!" He said, his voice mixed with that of Suzie Q's. Confusion gripped Jonathan as he slightly uncovered his left eye, seeing that the kind maid had been given a horrid makeover. Her face was covered in black veins, her body violently twitching from the erratic movements of the Pillar Man inside of her. Her eyes, on the other hand, were without pupils "However, even in this form I'll still kill you all!"

"You just don't quit, do you Esidisi!" Joseph yelled, stepping further into the room. Jonathan barely uncovered his right eye and was thankful when he saw that Lisa Lisa was now wearing a towel. Esidisi ignored the call out and instead continued to speak.

"I put the Red Stone on the boat at the docks! I'm here to stope you before you can find it again!" He declared, his new body contorting more and more from his movements. "If Wamuu wasn't dumb enough to leave early, then the stone would have reached Kars by now!" Jonathan gritted his teeth as he recalled seeing the possessed maid earlier, chastising himself for not being more observant.

"Joestars!"

Both men with the star birthmarks turned to see Caesar, who looked perplexed as to what they were doing in their master's room.

"About damn time you got here Caesar, what took you so long?" Joseph asked, barely taking his eyes off of Esidisi.

"I saw you two fighting the Pillar Men, did you get your antidotes?" He asked quickly, getting a nod from Joseph.

"Yes he did, but Wamuu got away before we could finish him." Jonathan somewhat lied, keeping his earlier thoughts of redemption for the warrior to himself. Joseph seemed to pick up on the lie judging from the quick look he gave his ancestor, but he thankfully remained focused on the current task at hand.

"Wait a minute, what are you two doing in Master's room?" Caesar questioned before gasping. Standing not too far away from the two musclebound men was their master, a towel covering her bare body. Jonathan seemed to pick up on the growing heat of anger emanating from the blonde man.

"Calm down Caesar, we are in here because Esidisi came back to kill Master Lisa Lisa!"

"Came back? What the hell do you mean?" Caesar inquired, his rage not tamed by the gentleman's words. Joseph sighed and pointed to Suzie Q, who was now sitting on a nearby pillar crying softly.

"He means that Esidisi survived as a brain and possessed Suzie Q with his veins." He said before pausing and rubbing the back of his head "Or something like that."

The whimpering Suzie Q looked up from her tear soaked arm at the still confused blonde Hamon user.

"Please help me Caesar, they're trying to kill me! I don't know what's going on!" she said in between sobs. Jonathan outstretched his hand, pointing it mightily at the wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Do not listen to him Caesar, he is trying to deceive you!" he yelled, doing his best to come up with some sort of plan to counter this wicked scheme while Lisa Lisa said something to Caesar. He knew that if he tried to use his Hamon on the monster, he would kill Suzie Q by overloading her heart with the solar energy.

"Caesar, go find Meshina and chase down that boat!" Lisa Lisa yelled. Caesar nodded and turned to run out the door. In that split-second turn, Esidisi had propelled himself over the three men and had tangled his vine like veins over the door, blocking their way out.

"You hamon users always stated your plans aloud, it's almost like you wanted us to kill you!" Esidisi said, mad laughter following afterward "By now the stone has already been loaded up on the train, maybe even already intercepted by Wamuu! If you want to find out, you'll need to kill this woman to escape!"

Jonathan winced and tightened his fist, cursing his lack of forethought once again for not backing up toward the door while Esidisi was busy trying to trick Caesar. Of course that would mean leaving Joseph, their master and Caesar alone with the maniacal Pillar Man, and he would rather be trapped with them instead of running away to save himself.

"Do you really want to tempt me, Esidisi?" Joseph said darkly, taking a step forward "I mean, you're talking about the fate of the world here. You think I won't kill a single girl to stop you?" he declared as he came face to face with unflinching Esidisi.

Jonathan reared back, shocked by the words that came from his descendent. His grandson said and did things he disagreed with, some more heavily than others, like the trickery in battle, the arrogance, the deceit and the insults he would hurl at others. All these things were unbefitting a gentleman, but it was not his place to force the young man to conform to his gentleman code. Murdering a civilian, one who was not even aware of their actions no less, was too far.

Joseph's speech to the hanging Esidisi was halted as he raised his hand to charge it with hamon, the hand being grabbed by Jonathan. Joseph looked back to object but was shocked to see that his grandfather's eyes had changed. The gentle blue which was like a calm spring in the middle of winter had been replaced by a flame. A bright, burning flame that made clear his intentions.

"Joseph, I am afraid I can't allow you to do this." He said, his voice like icicles stabbing into Joseph's spine.

"N-No gramps, you got it all wrong!" He said quickly, smiling nervously at the blue haired gentleman as he tried to free his strangled wrist "I-I was just bluffing, okay? I would never even consider hurting her, you know that right?"

The blue washed away the red of the flame, making Jonathan realize what he had done. He slowly let go of his grandson's wrist, his mind reeling after what had just happened.

"I'm terribly sorry Joseph, I don't know what came over me." He said, staring down at his palm in shock. He had doubted his grandson, he had doubted the inherit goodness in all of humankind. He knew it to be true, Blueford was the best example he could think of, but this was no undead knight who he had read stories about when he was a lad. This was his own flesh and blood and he had the gall to doubt him.

"At least you finally admit it for once!" Esidisi laughed, his head facing the ground "But I've had enough of this!"

With this, his head jerked upward, a part of Suzie Q's cheek bursting and sending a splash of blood toward the brown haired Joestar.

"Oh shit!" Joseph yelled, barely avoiding the splotch of blood as it hit the marble floor, instantly melting through the beautiful stone floor.

"The stone has probably already been loaded onto the train by now!" Esidisi said with a laugh, reached up to Suzie Q's black vein covered face to dig into her face, peeling away the skin and muscle as his boiling blood flew everywhere. "I'm going to make extra sure you won't be able to get to it, by blowing up this woman and covering you all in my blood!"

"Suzie Q's body won't take much more of this!" Lisa Lisa exclaimed, looking to her three students before taking a step forward "I'll kill her, it's the only way we'll survive."

All three men looked back at her, mortified.

"But Master, there has to be another way!" Caesar yelled back, Esidisi's screaming overriding every noise on the island as the gears started to turn in both the Joestar men's minds. It was then that Joseph snapped his fingers.

"That's it! Caesar, gramps, we need to focus our hamon into her body, like Hell Climb Pillar!"

Caesar looked dubious for a moment, turning toward Jonathan who still looked deep in thought. A second later, Jonathan smiled and nodded.

"Of course, it is risky but it is the only chance we got!" he said, earning a slow nod from Caesar but not before he voiced his doubts.

"If we all three attempt it, it could throw off the balance of the hamon and still kill her." He said, looking back at Jonathan who nodded back. Joseph put a finger to his chin and looked back at Caesar.

"Alright, guess it's you and me Caesarino." He said with a smirk, earning an eye roll from the blonde in question. Jonathan stepped forward, nodding at both of them.

"I will at least restrain her, making it easier for you both to hit your marks."

Joseph was about to disagree, but every second lead to more boiling blood spilling from the helpless maid's body and if they did not act now, they would all be dead within the minute.

"Alright, everyone go!" Joseph yelled, all three Hamon students charging at once. Jonathan rushed forward, some of the blood getting onto his arms as he shielded his face. The pain was horrible, like getting stabbed by a recently forged blade, but he grunted through it and was soon within range. He spread out his arms and gently squeezed the woman's body against his own, the boiling blood leaking from her wounds and onto his shirt, melting through the fabric iand his skin nstantly. Not soon after, Joseph and Caesar found their marks, placing both of their fingers in calculated positions before pumping two types of hamon into her body.

Joseph pumped negative hamon into her feet and chest, the type that would kill any creature born from the stone mask. Caesar sent positive hamon into her spinal cord and head, the type that would heal any wound the user desired. Esidisi struggled, but he could not escape the grip of the battle hardened Jonathan Joestar and pretty soon it was over. All three men jumped back as Esidisi screamed again, the voice changing slowly back to Suzie Q's as the brain of Esidisi slithered out of an opening at the base of her spinal cord. The parasite who used to be a Pillar Man leaped onto Joseph shoulder, making everyone gasp.

"Joseph!"

"It's fine you guys, it's over now."

The morning sun that streamed into the room was enough to disintegrate what little remained of the eccentric warrior. The brain writhed its tentacle like veins for a moment before falling off of the trickster's shoulder and landing in his palm, turning to dust and drifting into the breeze.

Caesar sighed, wiping the sweat off his brow.

"Good, that monster is finally dead." He said, walking over to his master who was currently looking over the unconscious body of Suzie Q.

"He may have been a monster, but damn if I don't respect him." Joseph said, looking out toward the horizon where the ashes of his opponent floated on the breeze "He was willing to give his life for his allies. If that isn't valor, I don't know what is."

Jonathan was stunned to hear these words, but smiled as he walked over to his downcast grandson and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. The brown haired Joestar returned the smile, nodding back at his ancestor.

After all of the conflict, only the quiet of uncertainty remained. All they had to do now was find the stone.

How they were going to do it was still a mystery.


	15. The Road to Saint Moritz!

**Apologies again for the long wait last chapter, so here is another long chapter to build up to what I believe will be the close finale. Also, be sure to check my profile for updates on this story, I try to keep you guys up to date whenever I can since I am actually going to finish a multi chapter story this time.**

 **Also, I know some of you may notice how Jonathan did not really add much this time around, something I had a problem with myself. However, all of that will change next chapter, that I can guarantee.**

 **Enjoy and critique!**

 **PS: Took me five months to notice the misspelling in the title. Quality.**

* * *

 _Chapter Fifteen:_

 _The Road to Saint Moritz!_

The battle with Esidisi had taught Jonathan many things, mostly about his grandson Joseph. What it did not teach any of the hamon users though was the location of the stone the Pillar Man had managed to slip onto a delivery boat, only saying something about the jewel being loaded onto a train for transport. While Joseph, Caesar and Meshina were sent to investigate the nearby post offices for any drop off points, Jonathan volunteered to stay behind to help heal the unconscious Suzie Q's injuries

While the wounds Esidisi had given her by her own hands were not fatal, the strain of the Pillar Man's boiling blood in her body would leave a lasting impact on her if she were not treated by Hamon.

Hamon healing was an art he had yet to master, as it was a topic both Zeppeli and his current masters hardly touched on aside from the basic application of such an ability. He understood why in both cases, as the combat application of the martial art was much more important at the time. It took only a few moments for Jonathan to get the hang of how to appropriately use the healing, gently pressing down on her arms to treat the wounded veins inside.

As he finished up closing the wounds on the unconscious maid's face, Lisa Lisa announced her presence with a knock on the open door, making the gentleman sit fully erect.

"How is she?" the hamon master asked, walking next to the bed to look over the blonde woman. Jonathan wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead and stood up.

"Great. There may be some scarring, but she is through the worst of it in terms of outside injuries."

The pale woman nodded as she ran a hand along Suzie's cheek, smiling down at the maid sorrowfully. If only she were more aware, she thought, maybe she could have prevented this invasion, perhaps even saving Loggs from the wraith of the Pillar Men.

Jonathan could feel the inner conflict within his master, seeing her face tighten in frustration at whatever she was thinking.

"Do not fret, Master." He said, walking over to his master and, after a moment of gentlemanly hesitation, placed a hand on her shoulder "You couldn't have known what would happen."

Lisa Lisa stared at her unconscious friend for a moment longer before shaking her head.

"No, I should have known. Caesar told me what he said to the Pillar Men about the stone." She said, her voice devoid of emotion as she stood up and turned to look at the taller gentleman "I should never have let my guard down in the first place," Jonathan recalled the bluff Caesar and Joseph used against the ancient beings, painting a target on the island as soon as they landed on it. He did not blame the two men for what happened, it was a clever plan that got everyone out alive, but now they were paying the price for such a risky move.

Nevertheless, Jonathan shook his head.

"Blaming yourself is not the way, Master. We just have to move on with what we have now."

"Which isn't a lot." Lisa Lisa said sardonically, her eyes falling to the ground as her mind continued to debate her current plan "When Suzie Q wakes up, be sure to let me know."

"Of course, Master." The blue haired giant said, bowing afterward. He sat back down and took a deep breath, the conversation break restoring a bit of his Hamon as he slowly laid his glowing hands on his patient's slightly red arm. It was then that he heard his master mutter something to herself, yet not quiet enough for him not to hear a part of it.

"Fifty years..."

Jonathan paused and looked up, confused.

"What was that, Master?"

The Hamon master gasped and shook her head, scolding herself for speaking her thoughts out loud.

"Nothing, don't worry about it Jonathan." She said rather quickly, making the gentleman tilt his head. He nodded in response and she gently shut the door behind her. While his mind did wander for an explanation as to what she had meant, he was mostly focused on finishing up his healing.

One minute soon turned to thirty and he had finally finished up his healing, getting up and wiping the sweat from his brow caused by the morning sun flooding in from the open windows. He took a moment to admire the beauty of the ocean sparkling from the light of the sun's rays, making him sigh in pleasure. How he wished the love of his life was here to see it with him.

At that moment, he heard a groan come from the bed, making his heart leap with surprise.

"W-What happened?" the maid asked, holding her forehead while squinting in pain. Jonathan rushed over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Easy now, you've been out for a few hours." He said softly, easing the dazed maid back down onto the bed. After assessing that he had indeed healed the rest of her injuries, he left the room to inform his master of her maid's recovery and was surprised to see her standing outside the door. The woman came over and sat in the chair Jonathan had used to question the woozy woman, making sure to asses her health before asking anything.

"Suzie, do you remember anything about putting the stone on a boat?" Lisa Lisa asked slowly. The maid, after thinking about it for a moment, shook her head.

"No, all I remember is talking to Mr. Jonathan and Mr. Joseph and then," she paused, putting a hand to her head and squinting her eyes, sighing afterward "Everything is a blur after that. I'm sorry Mrs. Lisa Lisa." The maid apologized, earning an understanding nod from her employer.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Suzie." She stated gently, getting out of her chair "I want you to hold still and close your eyes for me, okay?" she said, her voice like silk to the tired woman. Suzie Q nodded and did what she was told.

Jonathan observed the Hamon master sit on the bed in front of Suzie Q and place her hands on both sides of the maid's head. A faint, but familiar spark sounded as Lisa Lisa channeled a small dose of hamon through her fingers.

"Now tell me, where is the stone being delivered to?"

The maid was silent, her mouth open as she seemed to search her mind for the answer. Her lips came together as she slowly pronounced something.

"S-S-Swit-zerland. Switzerland."

"Good, now where in Switzerland?"

Eyes wide and mouth slanted, Jonathan observed with wonder at the new application of Hamon. While hypnotism was never something he would consider using it for, it was still amazing how flexible Hamon truly was and how each individual user could mold into whatever they wanted it to do. The blonde woman took in another deep breath as she slowly spoke again, her brow tense as she tried to recall exact details.

"S-S-Sa-Saint Moritz."

Lisa Lisa sighed in relief and released her grip from the maid's mind, the hypnotism rendering her exhausted enough to fall back onto the bed, falling asleep immediately. Jonathan gasped and went to run to Suzie's aid, but was stopped by a single touch to the shoulder by his master.

"She is fine, don't worry Jonathan." She said with a smile, looking back to the snoozing blonde "Let's inform the others at once, we have a train to catch."

* * *

When the trio of Hamon users made it back to the mansion to report their failure, they were relieved to have some good news when they returned, aside from Joseph who complained about his feet killing him from running around so much. Jonathan could not hold back a sly smile however when Joseph immediately asked how Suzie Q was doing following his rant. After he showed him to her room, Joseph stayed by her side and chatted with her a bit when she woke up. The teasing they did to each other brought a smile to the gentleman's face, reminding him of his younger years when he first met Erina.

After a round of goodbyes, Jonathan was instructed by Lisa Lisa to accompany her, Joseph and Caesar to Saint Moritz while Meshina stayed at the mansion with Suzie Q, much to the Hamon trainers chagrin. The gentleman agreed and the group headed for the mainland, taking Lisa Lisa's car when they arrived. Since they had to travel by car, it would be a long while before they arrived at their destination since they had over half of Italy to travel. Joseph quickly fell asleep in the passenger seat while their Master took over driving. Jonathan was left in the back with Caesar, occasionally making idle conversation. As he was about to fall asleep as well from the whole day of driving, a question from the blonde shook him awake.

"What was my grandfather like?" The headband wearing Zeppeli asked, turning away from his own personal game of "I spy". Jonathan smiled as he reminisced over the memories of his master, his chest seeming to tingle with each one he thought of, almost like Will was in the car with them.

"He was a wise man, kind but strict." Jonathan said before chuckling softly "But I am sure you knew that already."

The awkward pause afterward gave him the answer he needed before the blonde even spoke.

"My father never talked about him in detail, only mentioning his sacrifice and the mask." He said, his eyes moving to the passing, snowy scenery. Jonathan nodded and looked down at the floorboard. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Caesar was gripping his pant leg tightly.

"Tell me about his sacrifice."

Jonathan felt his spine grow cold, knowing this topic would come up sooner or later. With a long pause, Jonathan released a deep breath that he didn't know he was holding and proceeded.

"I was fighting an ancient knight named Tarukus, who had been resurrected by Dio and brought under his wicked control. Unfortunately, he was cleverer than I thought as he ambushed me and wrapped a steel collar around my neck, hanging me from the ceiling, both hindering my ability to use Hamon and my ability to move." He recalled, his eyes dark as he instinctively reached up to rub his neck, his fingers moving over the two scars.

"A young boy named Poco foolishly, but bravely snuck inside and opened the steel door that had kept Speedwagon and Zeppeli outside." Jonathan paused, feeling Caesar's eyes burning into him as he continued "I remember him standing there, seeming to analyze the situation with wide eyes and said: 'It's come. The day he prophesied has come at last.'"

"What happened next?" Caesar asked with hitched breathing.

The blue haired man went silent, staring to the leather seat as if the moment was happening again before his eyes

"He then said 'If such is fate, then I will accept it!'"

The rumbling of the car engine and crunching of gravel beneath the tires was all that made a sound for almost a full minute.

"All I heard was the sound of bones crunching and my neck snapping after that." He muttered, looking down at his hand as a spark of Hamon erupted from it "Then he passed all of his energy onto me, giving me the strength to defeat Tarukus."

Caesar listened intently, his past hatred for Jonathan trying to surface as it begged him to counter his points and call the man before him a coward who let his family die. But he held firm, barely managing to swallow his pride and gestured for Jonathan to continue. The gentleman nodded, his eyes becoming misty as he remembered the final part.

"It tore me up inside to see him lying there, knowing I could do nothing to save him. But he told me not to mourn him for he had accepted his fate and that he would live within me." Another pause that put Caesar on the edge of his seat "He told me about the family he left behind and how I was like a son and best friend to him at the same time."

The final bout of silence passed as Jonathan watched for a reaction from Caesar, reaching up to wipe his forming tears away.

"Thank you for telling me Jonathan." He said quietly, looking away from the man to hide his own sadness "I think I'll take a nap now."

With a nod, the two men decided to join Joseph in his nap and leaned back in their seats. The last thing Jonathan saw was the light of the stars looking down upon him and he could not help but smile back at them.

* * *

"Jonathan, wake up."

With a groan, Jonathan groggily opened his eyes and sat up, his vision too blurry to notice the change in scenery immediately. Instead of being surrounded by the green of Italy's fields, he was now feasting upon the image of winter around him. His eyes then wandered to the front of their vehicle and, to his shock, noticed a train parked not too far away from them.

"We finally caught up to the train." Lisa Lisa revealed, causing Jonathan to notice that Caesar must have taken over driving at some point since the Hamon master was now next to him "It's going through a custom's check at the moment and is less than one hour from Saint Moritz, giving us enough time to prepare."

Jonathan nodded, sleep still over him somewhat as he yawned loudly. He looked to see Joseph had woken up in front of him and looked rather impatient, tapping his fingers on the door while talking with Caesar about something.

"Just get off my case, you moron. I'm just saving up my strength for when we fight Wamuu, that's all." The trickster huffed, rolling his eyes at Caesar's annoyance. As the two talked, Jonathan heard what sounded like a horn blasting behind him, making him turn to see that another vehicle was sitting not too far behind them. From what he could see, the three men inside looked to be in some kind of military attire that looked vaguely familiar.

Joseph seemed to have heard it as well as he groaned loudly and stepped out of the car.

"If you idiots want to pass, go on ahead!" he yelled, the quiet winter wind carrying his voice to the men in the car. Joseph then gasped, seeming to recognize something about the men before Jonathan realized it himself "German soldiers!"

The soldier concealing his face in the back of the car chuckled as he passed them, gripping the cane in his hand tightly as his head moved to Joseph.

"You have grown a lot since we last met, Mr. Joestar."

Joseph reeled back in surprise, his mouth wide as the car passed and pulled alongside the train.

"Who the hell are you? I don't know any German soldiers!"

His yelling was ignored as the two soldiers exited the car and opened one of the train cars, making way for the man in the back who had recognized Joseph. After some digging, the man pulled out a package that made Jonathan gasp along with the rest of the gang.

"That's the crest!" Lisa Lisa yelled, standing up.

"What do the German's want with it!?" Caesar asked as the man who seemed to be the leader of the soldiers opened the box and presented the Red Stone of Aja.

"We are going to use the stone to further our scientific needs, in the mean time you Hamon users are going to tell us all you know about the stone and Kars." The leader declared, sticking the amulet in his pocket and gesturing past the train with his cane "Our base of operations is a little bit farther up the road, join us there."

Everyone in the car grew tense as the three men turned to their master, who nodded at them.

"I suppose it is better them having it than Kars." She assured them, not hiding a bead of nervous sweat that trailed down her face. Jonathan nodded as Caesar started the vehicle and proceeded to follow the Germans, the tension thick as night began to fall once more.

* * *

 _Five hours later_

"This place sucks." Joseph groaned, kicking the leg of his chair in frustration "I'm starving to death and we're stuck in this place while the Germans decide what to do with us."

"Calm down, Jojo. They aren't going to kill us, they made that much clear." Caesar said while sipping a cup of tea Jonathan made.

"I know that you nimrod. It's just that Wamuu, Kars or maybe both could ambush us at any time and we don't even have the stone! Those blasted Germans have no idea what they are getting into."

"Something tells me they do, Joseph." Lisa Lisa pointed out, crossing her legs in the ruby red chair she sat in by the fireplace "It almost feels like they are waiting for something."

Jonathan nodded after sipping his tea, raising to his feet to approach the window. The full moon shone down on the white ground, creating a scene straight out of a painting as the white melded with the blue light of the sun's brother.

"See anything out there, gramps?" Joseph questioned as he walked over. Jonathan shook his head.

"Nothing, it is beautiful though don't you think?" He asked with a smile, turning back to the scene. Joseph groaned again and walked over to the door.

"Screw this, I'm getting some food." He said before slinging the door open "Hey rifleheads, get us some food in here!"

A loud crash sounded from the next room, making every Hamon user jump. Joseph's eyes were wide as he looked upon the scene. Every soldier in the room was cut in half as blood painted the wooden walls of the cabin. In the center of the room was none other than Kars, who had his light blade against what looked to be a mechanical hand.

"He's mechanical?" Kars gasped out, furrowing his brow as he pressed down harder on his blade.

"No, it can't be!" Joseph muttered as the hat of the man who had recognized him split in half from Kar's earlier attack, revealing the log shaped blonde hair of a man he thought for sure was dead.

Jonathan came to the door just in time to witness the scene and hear the name of the man who had stopped the blow of the mask's creator.

"Rudol von Stroheim!"


	16. The Strings of Fate Collide! (1)

**This story has now surpassed my very first story on my old account in terms of views, it being edFAMOUS, a story that I have not worked on since early 2014. Really need to do something with it someday, but that's a story for another day.**

 **Thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing! Don't forget to critique!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **EX: Sorry for the slight delay, college started up Monday and I did not get to finish before then. This chapter was going to be around five thousand words long just to wrap up the battle, but I figured I should give you guys something to hold you over after the delay.**

* * *

 _Chapter Sixteen:_

 _Kars and Zeppeli! The Strings of Fate Collide! (1)_

"Kars!" Caesar yelled, his charge forward being held back by his equally shocked master by a single hand to the shoulder.

The scene before the Victorian era gentleman was one that defied all logic from the time he had long since left behind. A man seemingly constructed from machinery facing off against the creator of the Stone Mask? If he had not long since given up on making sense of the world he had entered since the night his father died, he would have gone insane at this sight. A single look to his grandson revealed an equal amount of shock, the man's green eyes darting from Kars to the mechanical man known as Stroheim. Joseph had talked about the German on the drive to the site where they had first encountered the Pillar Men, mentioning how he had died at the hands of the first Pillar Men named Santana.

Joseph seemed to have regained the ability to speak while Jonathan stilled fumbled around the darkness of his mind for his tongue.

"I heard that the German's were hiding some crazy medicine and science," he paused, his eyes moving away from the arm blade of Kars to the back of Stroheim's head "Is that what brought you back, Stroheim?"

The blonde man gave a small laugh as he turned to face the shocked group of hamon users. The orange glass that covered his eye opened, revealing his right eye as a smirk crossed his face.

"I've come back from Hell, Jojo."

Joseph put a hand to his head, his face scrunched up from an inner conflict he seemed to be having. Stroheim, meanwhile, turned his gaze to the other three Hamon users.

"Why don't you all sit down on that sofa there and watch me work?" he advised, his smirk never fading as he turned back to face his ageless opponent, whose attention seemed locked on both Jonathan and Joseph.

The gentleman recoiled slightly but held his ground at the hard glare. He could feel it. The hatred he was receiving was one he hadn't felt since he fought with Dio. But there was no respect lining this hatred, it was pure and vile disdain. Though his hatred seemed channeled more toward Joseph, no doubt hearing of Esidisi's death at the hands of the cunning warrior.

"Jojo, when I get the stone back," he paused, pointing his free finger at the brown-haired man slowly "I'll end you next."

Jonathan flinched as Kars looked back at him, pointing the same finger.

"And then you, Jonathan Joestar. Wamuu wouldn't like it, but I cannot allow two hamon users to live after killing Esidisi and crippling Wamuu."

Joseph cut in by stepping forward

"Are you speaking as warrior, Kars? Or is it just because you want vengeance?"

Kar's eyes narrowed even more at Joseph, Jonathan feeling the hair on his neck stand on end at the tension that filled the room like a nauseous gas.

"Your final opponent is right here, Kars!" Stroheim yelled, making Kars turn his anger toward the German.

"A mere machine cannot stop me!"

Stroheim smirked once again, reaching his free hand up before declaring.

"I am no mere machine, Kars!"

Jonathan watched with a mix of amazement and horror as Stroheim's arm began to rotate across his back until it reached his right side. Instantly, his left hand went around his right arm and pinched Kar's hand, a sickening crunch sounding through the room.

"B-both of his arms are mechanical?" Jonathan blurted out, mirroring his grandson's thoughts.

"Now comes the fun part!" Stroheim declared, pulling back on the spot he pinched Kars. Stunned, Kars let out a pained grunt and jumped back, the German taking a bloody piece of his hand with him. As the creator of the Stone Mask recovered, Jonathan observed in both confusion and amazement as Stroheim stood at attention and stretched his right hand out to salute.

"You utter fool! German science is the greatest in the world! My arms and body were built based on Santana's abilities!" He yelled before suddenly calming and grabbing a strange, small ball like object Jonathan had never seen before "In other words," he paused before crushing the ball in his hands, making the gentleman flinch at the force "We have calculated how much we need to reduce you to eliminate you. I'll pluck you like a chicken, one square centimeter at a time!"

He suddenly tossed the golf ball behind him, almost hitting Joseph before he blocked it.

"Do not pity me, Jojo!" Stroheim yelled before reaching into his jacket, producing a long belt of bullets that attached to his chest "For I have become the peak of German engineering! In other words, I have become more than a mere human!"

In that instant, Stroheim placed his arms at the back of his head, a long gun barrel erupting from his chest.

"Observe, Kars! This machine gun can fire 600 rounds per minute through 30 mm armor plating! It will whittle you down to paste in no time at all!"

"His torso is mechanical as well?!" Joseph yelled as Jonathan observed along with his master, too stunned to speak.

As Kars went to dodge upon hearing this declaration, the thunderous sound of gunfire erupted throughout the cabin, each bullet shredding through Kar's clothing and blocking arms with ease. Jonathan had never witnessed such a display of firepower in his life, the most powerful firearm he ever wielded being a simple sheriff's revolver. A loud crash sounded as Kar's was sent flying back through the cabin wall and out into the snow, the bullet's not letting up for even a moment.

"I think Stroheim might win this!" Jonathan yelled, hoping that this would be the end of the Mask creator. It was then that a strange feeling hit him, the feeling that a presence that was with him a moment ago suddenly left, causing him to turn around and gasp.

Caesar was gone.

* * *

Amid the white of snow and the silence of night ran a blonde, Italian man by the name of Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli. Swarming though his mind like a wildfire in a dead forest was a single emotion.

Rage.

The spark that lit the fire of his anger was none other than Kars, the being that had not only caused him suffering by implanting a poisonous ring inside of him that due to dissolve in only a few more days, but by ending the life of someone he had hated his whole life until the end, He knew it was selfish to think of revenge, as he had come to learn when he met Jonathan Joestar, the man who he thought had been a coward who got his grandfather killed.

But now, he could not care less.

The passion he felt was wild, contrasting with the calmness of his breathing as he sprinted up a ledge and observed the fighting below. The display of the mechanical man was impressive, sending the ancient man through the wall and into the snow. He knew he should have told his master and friends his plan, but all it would do is worry them. This was something he had to do on his own.

His mind went to the story Jonathan had told him the night before and he clenched his fist. His grandfather had accepted his death with open arms, calling it fate. Was it really? Could he have prevented it in some way? Caesar did not know the answer, he just knew that he didn't want to die before he got his vengeance. He just hoped his father was watching.

And when Kars sliced Stroheim's mechanical body in half with his glowing blade, Caesar knew that it was time to strike.

* * *

"Stroheim!" Joseph yelled.

Jonathan watched in horror as the blonde German seemed to slowly fall to the ground, his top half hitting the snow while his mechanical legs fell at Kar's feet.

"You say your strength is more than that of Santana's?" The purple haired Pillar Man asked and withdrew his blade "He was a guard dog, a tool! He would never have compared to us even if he had survived!" he yelled and bent down to pick up the halved man by the shirt, who gritted his teeth in response "Now give me the stone."

Jonathan tightened his fist and concentrated his breathing, turning to look at his stunned grandson and thoughtful looking master.

"Joseph, we need to do something!"

The brown haired Joestar jumped upon being awakened from his shock, but nodded back with a confident grin.

"You got that gramps!" He said, turning to looked behind him but was shocked to only see his master "Caesar? Where the hell is he?"

Lisa Lisa did not react, seeming to have already noticed his disappearance along with Jonathan.

"We will have to fight without him, I am sure he is fine." She answered with a rare hint of uncertainty in her voice "Jojo, circle to his right, Jonathan take the left. I'll cut him off at the front."

With these simple instructions in mind, both men nodded while Jonathan did his best to hold in his objections of letting his master put herself in so much danger.

"Right, let's go gramps!"

Jonathan smiled back at his grandson and looked back to Kars, who was already marching away with the top half of Stroheim. As soon as both men raised their legs to sprint, Jonathan caught glimpse of what looked to be several small, glowing blue disc flying directly toward Kars. The leader of the Pillar Men caught sight of them just in time and leapt back, now standing only twenty feet from the two Joestars. The disc hit the snow with great force, sending the white powder into the air, turning it into a mist of powder as it cloaked the direction toward the cliff.

"Kars!"

Jonathan heard a gasp alongside his own upon hearing the voice.

"Caesar?" Joseph asked aloud, trying to peer through the quickly fading cloud of snow. The only sound heard was the crunching of snow underneath a pair of heavy boots and, when the mist faded, there stood the blonde Italian, his gritted teeth and furrowed brow showing his fury more than any words could describe. Kars looked rather annoyed at this interruption, looking out of the corner of his eyes at the two Joestars beginning to circle him.

"Out of my way, Hamon user." He stated simply, his tone barely hiding his own anger. Caesar looked to his companions and master, who were frozen at the sudden arrival of the Zeppeli.

"Stay out of this, all of you! This is my battle!"

"What the hell are you doing, Caesar?" Joseph yelled in frustration, a glare from his friend being his only response. Jonathan looked over this scenario and something within him clicked. Then a thought was born, one that had been awakened the night before by a rather sudden, yet understandable request. The passion and rage in his blonde friend's eyes was born from more than just the fact that Kars had implanted a poison ring within him. No, this was personal, he could feel it.

Joseph glared back at the Italian and went to shout again, a firm hand on his arm stopping him.

"Don't, Joseph. This is something he has to do himself."

Joseph looked at his grandfather like he had gone insane.

"Are you crazy, gramps? Kars will kill him! We have to do something!"

Joseph looked to his master for a similar complaint, but found nothing but agreement in her eyes when she turned to look at him.

"This is his battle, Jojo. If things get too bad, we will interfere."

With a groan, Joseph crossed his arms and mumbled something about 'stupid honor' to himself.

Caesar seemed to see their agreement and gratefully bowed his head.

Kars scowled and tightened his grip on Stroheim's coat.

"Have it your way, fool."

Instead of charging like he expected, Jonathan was shocked to see Kars bend his knees and leap into the air. Shocked by this act of cowardice, Jonathan looked to Caesar and was confused at his lack of a reaction. Then the mist fully cleared and he saw why.

Completely surrounding the two fighters was a sixty-foot-tall, forty foot wide wall of Hamon infused bubbles. All three of his companions were stunned by this level of output, Jonathan especially.

"What!?" Kars screamed, thinking quickly as he held Stroheim out to take the brunt of the bubbles. Thankfully for Stroheim, his jacket took the brunt of Hamon and the two descended until they hit the snow with a crash.

"Amazing! He created an arena out of his bubbles!" Jonathan exclaimed, observing the pale moonlight reflecting off the fragile orbs of soap.

Caesar let a grin of confidence overtake his anger for the moment, gesturing around the arena.

"I knew you would try to avoid fighting me, which is why I came up with this. Do you like it, Kars?" He asked sardonically as he got into a fighting stance, his serious demeanor returning "Now it is time for the Zeppeli family to be avenged!"

Kars sneered and threw Stroheim to the ground, who grunted as he crawled as far as he could from the merciless Pillar Man. Kar's waved his arms and two glowing, razor sharp sabers formed from his skin.

"You asked for this, you foolish human."

Caesar closed his eyes and sighed, reaching up to tighten his headband. A myriad of thoughts rushed through his mind, all of them pushing him to charge and end this decades long conflict that had torn him apart and fueled him to begin training Hamon in the first place.

And when Kars lunged forward, he opened his eyes just in time.

Today was the day his father would be avenged.


	17. The Strings of Fate Collide! (2)

**Thank you guys for being patient! I hope to finish this story sometime by the end of September, if I am lucky. Also, thank you for reading and reviewing, it really inspires me to continue this story!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Chapter Seventeen:_

 _Kars and Zeppeli! The Strings of Fate Collide! (2)_

Caesar felt Kar's bone blade barely miss his head once more, a flurry of Hamon bubbles from his hands aimed at Kar's chest being the only thing that kept the being from cutting him to ribbons in that instant. The flock of Hamon filled orbs barely grazed Kar's side, making him jump back to avoid the rest of the barrage. Much to his surprise, Caesar charged in return, his soap soaked arm aglow with the colors of the rainbow as he slung it forward.

"Bubble Cutter!" The Italian yelled, several disc shaped bubbles flying toward Kars at a breakneck pace. Jonathan felt something stir inside him, a strange sense of nostalgia that didn't feel wholly his own let him recall William's own Hamon Cutter. A smile graced his face, feeling that the move was the boy's own dedication to his grandfather. This nostalgia was cut short as Kars simply cut through three of the disc, letting the rest fly harmlessly past him into the wall of bubbles.

Caesar, noticing that he was panting, quickly slowed down his breathing and soon reigned in his lungs. Kars seemed to notice his struggle and chuckled.

"It seems you overestimated yourself, Hamon user. Conjuring up this arena so quickly took a lot out of you, it seems." A confident grin soon morphed into a smirk as Kars let his eyes scan the rest of the human "Not only that, but you seem to be running low of that soap you use to form your bubbles."

Caesar's eyes widened and he looked himself over, his brain aflame with panic when he noticed that the only spots covered by the soap was his right shoulder and his left leg.

" _Damn it! He's right, I only have enough left for two more attacks!"_

Joseph, upon hearing this, attempted to enter the bubble arena but was stopped by his grandfather's herculean grip, making him turn to look at Jonathan in fury.

"Damn it gramps, I'm not going to sit by and let Caesar die because of some messed up sense of honor he has!" he roared, trying to free himself of the stoic gentleman's grip, but to no avail "Don't you care? If he dies then it'll be on all of us for doing nothing!" Instead of showing any sign of anger, Jonathan's face remained blank and he shook his head slowly.

"I understand your worry, Joseph." The gentleman said, his blue eyes meeting the fiery green of his grandson's "But I understand his desire for vengeance as well. It is unbefitting a gentleman, but I have been in the same state he is in right now." Jonathan's eyes went to the ground for a moment, looking back to his grandson afterward, whose face seemed to have relaxed slightly at those words "We need to have confidence in Caesar. Like Ms. Lisa Lisa said, we will intervene when necessary."

Joseph's angry sneer deflated, only to be replaced by an impatient frown, something Jonathan seemed to notice as he replied with his traditional smile.

"I promise you Joseph, I will not let him die."

Lisa Lisa looked at the two men out of the corner of her eye and sighed quietly when Joseph relented with a nod, taking his place back at his grandfather's side. She understood how Joseph was feeling, she too was worried. The bubble arena move was something Caesar had shown her many years ago, during their second year of training. While it had impressed her, she did not hold back her criticism of it being a waste of energy that needed a good deal of improvement before even being considered. He had improved the deployment speed, but not the consumption.

And now that Kars had noticed this flaw, it was up to Caesar to cover his bases before Kars obliterated any chance he had left.

* * *

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Kars questioned, taking a step forward "I bet your thinking of how you can hit me with the two measly attacks you have left, calculating where you could hit me when I charge again, is that right?"

A soft gasp and a tightened brow gave the being his answer, a chuckle rising out of him again as he retracted his step and turned around.

"You humans, so predictable." He mumbled and walked toward the halved German soldier, who seemed to have passed out due to the Hamon shock from Kars earlier escape attempt. With a wicked smile, he picked up the soldier by his coat pocket and, with a flick of his wrist, tossed what was left of the mechanical man at the Hamon user.

Too many thoughts rushed through Caesar's mind for him to consider any of them. If he used one of his attacks to stop the man, it would not only be playing into Kar's hands, but he would kill Stroheim due to the overload of negative Hamon. If he dodged, the soldier would hit the wall of bubbles and would have the same effect as a man flying into an electric fence.

Then he realized he could only really do one thing.

Then, in the second it took for Joseph to open his mouth and scream, Caesar took a breath and channeled a good amount of Hamon into his hands, feeling the last of his soap flow to his hands and turn into a clear film in his fingers.

"Bubble Barrier!"

A large, man sized bubble formed from the blond man's hands and, not a second later, Stroheim crashed into the crystal clear orb, his momentum not lost as the bubble was sent flying toward the wall of smaller orbs with him inside it.

As this was happening, Caesar turned at the sound of Kar's laughter and he felt his heart stop when he saw a familiar red glow in between his fingers.

"So, that's where you were hiding the stone, you worthless pile of scrap!" he said in between his cackling as he held the stone up to the moon, it's ruby glow covering his maniacal expression.

"It's finally mine, the Red Stone of Aja!"

* * *

"Damn it! Caesar just used the last of his soap to save Stroheim!" Yelled Joseph as he pushed passed his grandfather "I'm getting in there!"

"Joseph, wait!" Jonathan pleaded as he failed to grab the young man by the shoulder. A soft, gloved hand gripped his arm and he turned to see his master nod at him.

"We need to at least get in position in case Caesar starts to struggle, Jonathan." Lisa Lisa noted, her eyes turning back to the still arena "Kars has the stone, he cannot be allowed to escape no matter what the cost."

The cold air of the winter night was nothing compared to the beautiful Hamon master's words to Jonathan, his spine tingling especially at the last sentence. She couldn't mean she would let Caesar die, did she? No, there was no way she would do something like that. Despite his respect for her, he found himself turning to face his master.

"Master, you can't possibly mean that!" He questioned rather loudly, his heart thumping in his chest at the fact he was speaking against someone he respected so much. The frigid stare she gave him told him everything and he simply bowed his head after a moment of looking at her in disbelief "Yes, Master."

Jonathan took off in a sprint as he followed Joseph's tracks, seeing the green scarf wearing trickster pounding away at the bubble wall in frustration, yellow sparks flying every time he did so.

"Damn it, I can't get through! Caesar must have charged them full of positive and negative Hamon at the same time!" He explained, another punch against the wall punctuating his anger "That selfish bastard! He's going to get himself killed over some dumb grudge!"

Jonathan flinched with each swear his grandson uttered and he attempted to touch the wall with his palm. As with Joseph, a spark of Hamon shot out and pushed his hand away.

"You're right, even if we used the positive and negative side of Hamon at once, they would just cancel each other out." He stated regretfully, his grandson sighing in frustration afterward. Suddenly, Joseph's face lit up with an idea.

"I got it! Let's head back to the cabin and use something there to-" Joseph paused, his sudden silence causing Jonathan to halt his own search for rocks or sticks they could use among the thick, five inch snow.

"Joseph, what is the-"

As soon as his eyes followed where his grandson was looking, he too was at a loss for words.

* * *

"It's beautiful, is it not?" Kars mused to himself, quickly withdrawing the stone from the path of the moon "At last I can become what I have always been destined to become, the Ultimate Life Form!"

Caesar desperately searched his mind for a plan. If he knew his master, he knew she would not let Kars leave with the stone, even if it meant she would lose her student in the process. He was out of soap and any attempt to rush at Kars would be met with a flurry of slashes that would reduce him to red paste. Not only that, but his head was aching at this point from keeping his bubble arena up and it would only be a matter of time before he gave into his mental exhaustion, thus letting Kars escape and dooming the world.

This couldn't be the end.

This couldn't be what fate had in store for him.

But the more he thought about it, maybe it was. Maybe he was fated to fall like his grandfather before him. But this time, his death would not only harm the descendent of a Joestar, but the very man Will Zeppeli had died for. Fate had a twisted sense of humor, it seemed.

As his eyes unconsciously moved to the sky, seeming to search for any sign from the heavens of a way he could still win, he was momentarily stunned. Sliding at a rather quick pace toward the center of the circular bubble arena's ceiling was Stroheim, still encased in the large bubble that seemed to be gaining momentum the more it slid across the bubble walls. Maybe he could…

Finally, fate smiled on him!

"Kars!" he yelled, his eyes subtly peaking up at the bubble as he gently motioned for it start its descent. His brain was aflame with the worst migraine he had ever experienced, but he held on, the sweat that dripped from his brow increasing with the effort.

The purple haired Pillar Man looked at the human, his ever-present sadistic smirk growing as he saw the exhausted Caesar.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot about you, human." He said breathlessly, almost sounding bored as he unsheathed his blades once more "Just lie down and I'll make this quick, I have many more important matters to attend to."

Caesar released a breath he didn't realize he was holding and held up his left hand, hiding his right one as it continued to guide the German filled bubble. Just a few more feet…

"Wait! What do you intend to do with the stone!?" He asked, already knowing the answer. While it was not too clever a question, Kars stopped in his tracks anyway and seemed amused at Caesar's apparent ignorance.

"You humans, sometimes I wonder how you even got past your primal states." He pondered aloud, shaking his head with a chuckle "I plan to use the stone to become the Ultimate Life Form so that I may rightly rule as this worlds guardian. You human's shall serve…"

As the Pillar Man went on and on about his plans for domination, Caesar's eyes moved up to the bubble for half a second, seeing the Stroheim had awoken and looked utterly confused. While he had been reduced to half the machine he used to be, it looked like he could still operate just fine without the use of his legs. The two's eyes met, and while they may have disagreed on everything ethical, right now it felt like they were in sync as Stroheim's confused sneer had grew into a wicked grin as he noticed where he was. Caesar smirked back at him and looked once more to Kars, who was still in the middle of explaining his goals.

"Know this, Kars!" Caesar yelled, his brain about to explode from the pressure of his concentration "Today you met and lost to Caesar Zeppeli! The son of Mario Zeppeli, the man you killed four years ago!"

He raised his right hand and snapped, a weight being lifted off his mind as soon as he did so.

"Now burn in Hell."

Kars raised an eyebrow at the motion, and then his pupils shrank as he remembered something that he seemed to have forgotten when he had acquired the stone. A loud, resounding yell from above reminded him of his mistake.

"Kaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrs!" Stroheim yelled as he descended, his replacement right eye opening up as a small barrel grew out of it. The Pillar Man was so shocked that he had no time to react as Storheim crashed into him, almost knocking him off balance as he was put into a head lock by the mechanical man "German science is the greatest in the world!" he screamed with joy as a purple glow began to form around his eye.

"Release me, you pathetic machine!" Kars demanded angrily as he swung his head around to and fro, but to no avail, Stroheim's grip was too strong. A sharp, burning pain erupted from the back of his head, a purple beam of UV light penetrating through his skull and left eye. As he screamed in pain and shock, the weight of the machine vanished from his back and he stumbled, trying to regain his senses. When he turned to try and find the German soldier, blindly slashing his light blades around, he was met face to face with a charging Caesar.

"This is for all the pain you have caused, Kars! To both my family and the Joestars!" He yelled as he leapt into the air, a deep breath sending a wave of Hamon energy to his right leg "Hamon kick!"

There was not time for Kars to react, even when he went to slice Caesar's leg off, the pain from Stroheim's UV beam muddling his thoughts. The kick connected with his chest, which not only sent a large amount of Hamon into him, but sent him flying backwards into the wall of bubbles.

From there, all Caesar had to do was listen to Kar's pained screams and yells of vengeance as the Pillar Man was disintegrated from both the outside and the inside. The screams went on for almost ten seconds before sounds of nature took over once more.

Kars, the leader of the Pillar Men, the one who killed his father, the being who had driven him to train with Hamon in the first place was finally reduced to ash. And as he fell backwards, as he finally gave into his exhaustion, he could not help but smile as he saw the bubbles of his arena pop one by one as the clear, starry night sky came into view with the bright light of the moon shining down on him.

It was finally over.

* * *

"He did it, he actually did it!" Joseph yelled ecstatically, rushing toward the fallen Caesar as soon as the rest of the bubble arena popped.

Jonathan could not hold back his own joy, small tears of pride trailing down his face as he rushed to catch up to his descendent.

"Is he going to be alright, gramps?" Joseph asked as he kneeled to inspect his unconscious friend. Jonathan smiled and wiped away his tears, nodding afterwards.

"He just passed out from the exhaustion, it took a lot of mental fortitude for him to keep up his arena." Jonathan noted as he put a hand on his grandson's shoulder "I think he can rest easy for the first time in a while."

Joseph nodded slowly and turned to look at Kar's ashes to see Lisa Lisa already sifting through them. Jonathan noticed this as well and went to meet his master, seeing her face scrunched in confusion.

"What is wrong, Lisa Lisa?" The gentleman inquired. He was ignored as their master rose from his knees, the wet snow covering her elegant long coat.

"I found Kar's antidote ring," she revealed, holding up the gold ring with two emeralds lining each side of it "And Stroheim must have got knocked out again." She gestured to the German, whose bravery and bullheadedness had given Caesar his victory.

"What about the Red Stone of Aja?" Jonathan questioned, his voice filled with panic. He did not get an answer immediately as his master pointed to the ground. His eyes fell upon a set of footprints that, strangely, pointed away from the ashes with no sign of approach. The two followed them until they came upon writing in the snow. Jonathan did not have to guess who had taken the stone or how he had managed to slip by without being noticed.

He slowly read the words aloud, understanding exactly what implications they had.

"Skeleton Heel Stone. Only there can you retrieve the stone."

* * *

Wamuu watched the trio of Hamon users from a cliff overlooking the cabin.

Kars was dead and he could still barely believe it. The man who had raised him was reduced to nothing in an instant by a mere human. In spite of the animosity he held for all of them, he could not help but feel a grudging level of a warrior's respect for Caesar, the very same amount he had for Jonathan Joestar. He even felt the same for Joseph Joestar, the one who had killed his other master, Esidisi.

They had lost in a duel to the death, and there no greater honor than that. But this meant Kar's plans were ruined.

Wamuu held the stone in between his fingers, still pondering his next move. He knew Jonathan would meet his challenge but what would he do?

Would he fulfill Kar's goal of becoming the Ultimate Life Form?

Was he even worthy of doing so?

With a grunt, he got to his feet and walked away, clenching the stone in his hand.

"Lord Kars, Esidisi. I promise you, you will be avenged."


	18. Carry On, Jonathan Joestar!

**Expect a more in-depth author's note next chapter, for obvious reasons.**

 **I think this may be the longest chapter yet, so brace yourself if I stumbled a bit here.**

 **Enjoy and critique!**

* * *

 _Chapter Eighteen:_

 _Prelude to Destiny! Carry On, Jonathan Joestar!_

 _Days till the rings dissolve: 25_

Speedwagon was not having a good morning.

Not only had he been fighting the guilt of not informing Jonathan of their departure to Rome, but he had just barely enough time to remember his secret project and was now running back to the plane with a very impatient Erina waiting for him.

With his legs numb from the constant sprinting and his heart feeling like it was about to give out, he finally made it to the stairs that lead into the plane, gasping all the while as he managed to pull himself along the railing as he dragged the heavy, four-foot-long case behind him. As he hobbled into the plane, the pilot quickly got up to assist the gasping Speedwagon.

"Mr, Speedwagon, are you alright?" The scarred man nodded, his old heart still beating rapidly in his chest.

"Yes, just a bit…exhausted." He said in between his intakes of breath, letting the pilot take the case and place it in a seat that rested in front of a young man, who regarded it curiously.

"What's in the case Mr. Speedwagon?"

"Don't worry about Smokey, just something I've been working on." He said, avoiding the question. Despite being dissatisfied with the answer, Smokey nodded and turned to face Erina.

"Ms. Joestar, how are you feeling?"

The old woman looked up from the book she was reading and smiled at the young man.

"I am fine, thank you Smokey." She said, her expression turning less than friendly when Speedwagon took a seat next to her "Why didn't you tell me sooner, Speedwagon? If I knew what Jonathan was getting into I would have gone with him immediately!"

She emphasized her anger by smacking him with her small umbrella, making the poor man raise his arms to protect his head.

"Ouch! I'm sorry Erina! Jonathan wanted me to tell you but Joseph didn't want you to worry!" He said through her attacks, making Smokey chuckle before he put his arms behind his head.

"Jonathan, that's Joseph's grandad, right?"

Erina halted her assault on the helpless Speedwagon and nodded, her smile returning.

"Yes, he was," she paused, looking outside the airplane window for a moment, her smile growing bigger " _Is,_ my husband."

"He's the toughest and most righteous gentleman I've ever met." Speedwagon smiled, taking his hat off to let his head cool off "Quite different from the rambunctious Joseph," He laughed as he recalled how similar the two looked "In terms of personality anyway."

"Mr. Speedwagon, we are ready for takeoff." The pilot announced, earning a nod from the scarred gentleman.

"Great, take us to Rome my friend."

As the rumbles of the plane propellers sounded through the air, Speedwagon allowed himself a look at the silver case that rested two seats away from him. It wasn't an original invention, nor was it something that would contribute to the world of medicine, but it had been the most important thing Speedwagon had ever dedicated himself to.

And as the plane lifted off the ground, he smiled as he read the large, golden initials on the case to himself.

"L.P."

* * *

 _Days till the last ring dissolves: 4_

The morning had come seemingly out of nowhere to Jonathan, as he had barely slept a wink during what little had been left of the night. So much of his much-needed sleep had been constantly interrupted by his thoughts on what possibly happen with a certain Pillar Man, the one who had the stone.

The one who he really did not want to fight.

"So where is this Skeleton Heel stone place anyways?" Joseph asked, poking his half-eaten plate of eggs. Jonathan shook his head, taking a small sip of his tea.

"I don't know, but I think I remember reading about at one point." He said, rubbing his chin idly before shaking his head "But it's been so long that all I can remember is that it was an arena for great warriors to do battle in front of a crowd."

"So, like a gladiatorial arena?"

"Exactly." Jonathan nodded, smiling coyly as he stirred a sugar cube into his tea "I didn't take you one for history Joseph."

"Hey, that stuff may be boring but sometimes it can be cool." Joseph replied, smirking as he showed a scrambled egg kebab on his fork before quickly shoving it in his mouth. Silence befell the table after Jonathan's chuckle, his eyes focused on the light orange table cloth while deep in thought.

 _Only there will you find the stone…_

"You alright there, gramps?"

The gentleman blinked and quickly looked up at Joseph, looking as if he had just saw a ghost before quickly sighing away his shock and nodding.

"Yes Joseph, thank you."

Joseph sneered at the reply, propping his elbow on the table to hold up his head.

"Y'know gramps, I love you and all, but you lie about as well as granny does." He said before shrugging away his frown of suspicion, replacing it with his trademark smirk "And I should know, I'm a pretty good liar."

Jonathan looked up at him, the faintest hint of disappointment in his eyes before the trickster continued.

"This about Wamuu?" A slow nod "Don't worry about it gramps, you completely decimated that moron before. You'll have no problem taking care of him now."

"Yes, but…" Jonathan started, his eyes looking past the table and toward the wooden floor, a long sigh leaving him as he cupped his face with his right hand "I don't want to fight Wamuu."

This statement made the brown-haired man regret shoving the rest of his eggs in his mouth, nearly choking for a moment before swallowing before he managed to cough out a reply.

"What!? Why not?" He wanted to yell, but the tickle in his throat made him wheeze instead. A loud clearing of the throat later and he was ready to continue "He put a poison ring around your heart and tried to kill you only a few days ago! Not to mention he was one of the guys who helped create the Stone mask!"

Jonathan closed his eyes and slowly nodded. He perfectly understood Joseph's suspicion and it made him feel more like a fool than he already did, but he fought through this self-doubt and returned Joseph's confusion filled eyes with a stoic stare.

"I know, Joseph. It's just that I…" he stopped, his mind seeming to dance around the many times he had thought of this quandary to figure out what to say "…I fought someone like him fifty years ago, a servant of Dio's."

Joseph's befuddlement did not leave his face, but he sat back and crossed his arms. Jonathan gave a thankful nod before continuing.

"His name was Bruford. A man who, despite his horrid form, maintained a sense of honor during our battle." Joseph nodded, his confused look being traded in for one of mild interest as he scratched his chin. Jonathan went on after a moment of silence, his eyes holding a deep sense of regret "After I hit him with a Sunlight Yellow Overdrive, the Hamon…changed him. He could feel pain…. regret for what he had done and peace in his final moments."

Jonathan finally managed to look Joseph in the eyes "I know it is selfish, even hypocritical of me, to want to spare Wamuu when I didn't raise a hand to do the same for his allies." A shaky breath came from the gentleman as he tightened his fist "But I have to try, I have to try and save him."

Joseph's doubts were as big in his mind as his ego was, but the sincerity in his grandpa's voice, the sheer amount of determination and regret he held in tandem could not be denied. Joseph let out a sigh of his own and got up from his seat, which drew Jonathan's attention.

"You know, when Speedwagon told me about you, I was skeptical." The Joestar said with a grin, chuckling as he walked away from the table "How could a guy be so honorable and selfless at the same time? Uncle Speedwagon must be nostalgic for his long last friend." The green-eyed trickster found himself looking out the kitchen window, seeing a decrepit hotel in the distance among the snow-covered landscape, the morning sun highlighting the surface a light orange.

"But, damn it," Joseph laughed again, reaching to wipe his glazing eyes, a few tears falling before he turned to face his now standing ancestor "I'm glad he was right."

Suddenly, Joseph found himself engulfed in a hug from the much older gentleman, a sniffle coming from the blue haired man. After the initial surprise, Joseph quickly returned the gesture, his glazed eyes now fully releasing his tears.

"Even if I hadn't come back," Jonathan sniffled again, his breath somewhat ragged "I know things would have turned out just fine with you here, Joseph." He pulled away, his eyes red with tears and a gentle smile on his face "I am proud to have you as my grandson, and I know my son is proud of you too."

"Aw damn it, gramps." Joseph said with a weak laugh, wiping his tears away with his gloved hand. The two stayed like that for a few minutes before pulling away, both men smiling proudly at the other.

"No more crying, okay?" The trickster said, blinking away the sadness in his eyes. Jonathan donned his rare smirk and gently elbowed his grandson.

"Whatever you say, Joseph."

The sudden clacking of high heels on the kitchen floor made Jonathan turn, seeing his master approaching with a small smile on her face. Joseph turned much quicker than Jonathan did, his expression one of suspicion.

"How much did you see?" The woman's smile only grew as she shook her head.

"Enough," She said, making Joseph groan and pinch his forehead, making Jonathan chuckle before their master continued "I healed Caesar's bruises and cuts as best I could, but he will have a headache for at least a week or so."

Lisa Lisa sat down in a seat next to Joseph's, soon joined by both her students at the table.

"Is Caesar awake?" Joseph inquired. Lisa Lisa shook her head, nodding at Jonathan as he poured her a cup of tea.

"No, but he should wake up soon."

"What about Stroheim?" Jonathan asked, pouring Joseph a cup of tea.

"He's fine and awake." She then gestured to both men "He said one of you two is going to have to drive him to the checkpoint where his soldiers stopped the train," She said, sipping her tea afterward. Joseph got up immediately.

"I guess I'll take him, gramps doesn't know how to drive yet." He pointed out with a smirk, making Jonathan roll his eyes and smile.

"Forgive me, I only recently crawled out of a coffin into the future."

The two laughed together and Joseph, after some help from his stronger grandfather, managed to carry the halved mechanical man into his car. As Jonathan placed the man in the back seat, almost forgetting his cane, Stroheim studied the gentleman curiously.

"So, you are the Jonathan Joestar Speedwagon talked about." He observed, shocking Jonathan for a moment.

"You know Speedwagon?" Jonathan questioned, making Joseph scoff.

"If by know, you mean kidnap and torture, then yeah."

Stroheim laughed, making the blue haired Joestar raise an eyebrow.

"Please, Jojo! It doesn't sound nearly as nice when you say it like that!" The blond cyborg yelled, Jonathan taking note of the lack of remorse in his voice "We rescued Speedwagon, we healed his damaged body! Surely it was only fair he give us some information in return?"

"Yeah, whatever. Keep your mouth shut or I'll let you rust in the snow." Joseph remarked, his tone harsh but with an underlying sense of respect. Jonathan waved the two off as the car sped down the dirt pathway and he headed back inside, sighing.

"How wearisome."

As he passed the door to Caesar's room, he looked inside. The headband wearing young man was still asleep, his breathing calm and relaxed. Sitting on a small bed table was the emerald encrusted antidote ring that Caesar had earned from Kars. He let himself smile at the peaceful looking Caesar before continuing his way back to the kitchen, where his master was still sitting.

"Would you like more tea, Master?"

She looked up from the table in surprise, smiling when she saw him walk in.

"Of course, if you do not mind."

"Not at all!" he declared with a chuckle, grabbing the half full teapot and pouring both himself and Lisa Lisa a warm cup of tea.

"Thank you, Jonathan."

The broad-shouldered man nodded, taking a seat across from the Hamon master as the quiet sounds of the few birds that could thrive in these harsh winter conditions filled the now quiet kitchen.

It had taken Jonathan a moment to realize that this was the first time he had ever been truly alone with his master, the only other time that could possibly count being when they both healed Suzie Q after her encounter with Esidisi. Not only this, but since the beginning, he always felt a strange…feeling coming from his master every time he looked into her eyes. Usually, at least during situations of peace and not training, her eyes were motherly and caring when looking at Caesar and Joseph. But whenever she was looking directly at him, it was strange. He could not put a finger on it but it almost looked like admiration or some type of affection, and that was no different now.

She seemed to take notice to his occasional glances because she smiled at him, laughing a bit.

"What is it, Jonathan? Do I have something stuck in my teeth?"

Jonathan chuckled before shaking his head, crossing his arms afterward.

"Master, forgive me if this is a bit forward, but ever since we met, I have noticed that you seem to act, well," He paused, thinking very carefully about how he was going to explain his point without it seeming accusatory or awkward "…different around me. May I ask why?"

The sounds of the birds took over once more and Jonathan was ready to retract his inquiry before she sighed.

"And I thought I was getting better at hiding my emotions." She smiled again, putting her tea down "I was going to tell you after your battle with Wamuu, but I suppose now is fine too."

"Tell me what?" He asked, his tone cautious before he realized how rude he sounded "If it is not a bother of course."

"It's fine, don't worry." She leaned back into her chair, crossing her arms as well before continuing "Do you remember your final battle with Dio? When the boat exploded and Erina barely escaped in Dio's coffin?"

He nodded slowly, his mind wishing it could wash away those events, especially the face of Erina when she realized she was going to lose him. His master continued, her voice sounding strained as she tried to force out her words.

"With her she brought a single passenger, an infant who you pleaded she take with her. Do you remember?"

Then it was like he had gotten hit in the face by a carriage full of bricks. The only thing that snapped him out of his shock spell was the sound of his tea cup hitting the table, almost spilling its contents onto the fine tablecloth.

"W-What? A-Are you...?"

A single, tear filled smile was all the answer he needed, his eyes nearly falling out his skull from how wide they were.

"You saved me, Jonathan Joestar."

* * *

Wamuu heard a drip of water hit the stone floor.

He had heard this sound many times the past few hours, ignoring it every other time before. But now, it irritated him for a reason he could not define explicitly.

But when he looked down at the Red Stone in his right hand and the stone mask that had been designed specifically to hold the shining stone in his left, he realized why.

He realized he did not want to do this.

When his mind went over why, it seemed foolish. Kars would have called him a naïve fool and Esidisi would have agreed if they were here.

But they were not.

They were dead.

And it had been thrust upon him to take up Kars destiny, a destiny that directly contradicted his philosophy. His master had told him plenty of times what would happen if he acquired the Red Stone of Aja, how he would become invincible and be able to thrive under the rays of the sun instead of hiding like the prey they feasted on.

How he could do anything he wanted.

Never once did Kars mention that anyone but him deserved that kind of power, nor did he say anything about how Wamuu and Esidisi would be given the same gift he so longed for. He praised them and had raised Wamuu when he been just an infant, but he never told him he was destined to be anything but his loyal servant.

And even if he was given explicit permission to do so, without being ordered to, he would refuse. It was not honorable, especially not to an opponent like Jonathan Joestar, to deprive a warrior of his victory. Jonathan may have been naïve, but he was a pure-blooded warrior and had been the greatest, yet most frustrating, challenge he had experienced in over 2000 years. The two had a mutual respect for the other it seemed, and Jonathan would certainly try to spare him again during their final battle.

This thought somewhat tempted him to using the mask. After all, if Jonathan would not give him a warrior's death, if he really wanted both warriors to survive the fight, then he would show him how horrible that could truly be if his opponent was invincible and willing to kill him.

Yet, Wamuu tossed this thought without even a second worth of consideration. No matter what, he was not going to compromise his honor, nor would he ever consider it. Unless Kars willed it, he would follow his code until the day he died.

A dark chuckle rumbled from deep in his throat as he held The Stone up between his fingers.

Just like a certain blue maned warrior.

"I'm sorry, Master Kars and Esidisi." He let the stone mask fall from his hands and hit the floor, the sound echoing throughout the old, torch lit rest chamber of Skeleton Heel stone.

* * *

The silence between master and student lasted for almost five minutes, Jonathan's mouth agape as he tried to form any kind of syllable to express his shock.

"L-Lisa Lisa, I don't know what to say." Jonathan stammered out, his mind still reeling from the confession of his master. She shook her head, her gentle smile remaining.

"You don't have to say anything," The scarf wearing woman took a step forward and, before Jonathan could react, he lightly hugged him "I'm just glad I got to meet you."

For a moment, Jonathan did nothing. The initial shock soon faded however and he smiled, wrapping his arms around the shorter woman in a protective embrace.

"I'm so sorry." He said solemnly, closing his eyes "I should have tried to save your mother. If only I never got on that boat…"

"Don't say that." She demanded sternly, pulling out the hug with a frown "You are incredible, Jonathan, but you're not infallible." She slowly ran a hand down the side of his face and, suddenly, she pulled it away and averted her eyes to the wall.

"I-I'm sorry, I got carried away." His master's face was slightly red, embarrassment clear in her eyes before she once again met her savior's confused eyes "It's just that, you look so much like him."

"Like who?"

A loud slam came from the living room, soon followed by the familiar sound of his grandson's excited voice.

"Gramps! Lisa Lisa! You won't believe who I ran into on the way back!"

The loud interruption from Joseph was sort of welcomed by Jonathan, who quickly rushed into the living room with his master close behind. Before they got to the living room, Jonathan felt a tug on his shoulder and turned to see Lisa Lisa giving him a worried look. He smiled and nodded, a thankful glint shining in her eyes before they rounded the corner.

"Jonathan!"

The blue haired, blue eyed gentleman felt a strange mix of joy and fear shoot into his heart when he saw a familiar elderly blond woman running toward him. Despite his fear, he immediately embraced her.

"Erina! What in the world are you doing here?"

The love of his life held him tighter and he responded in kind, banishing his sense of worry for the moment.

"I believe you have me to thank for that." Speedwagon announced, tipping his hat as he entered the room carrying a large case in his right hand.

"I found em on the way back, don't know how they found us though." Joseph admitted as a young, colored teenager came in after Speedwagon "Oh yeah! Gramps, this is Smokey! He's a friend of mine from New York!"

Jonathan smiled as he let go of his love and walked over to the young man, extending a hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Smokey."

The young man looked at his hand seemingly in confusion for a moment and then up to the much younger looking man in comparison to his elderly wife before slowly taking his hand, removing his cap afterward.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Joestar." He then released his grip, chuckling "Hope you don't mind your grandson and wife making friends with a street rat."

Jonathan mirthfully laughed

"Anyone who is a friend of Joseph or my lovely wife is a friend of mine."

"How the hell did you find us, Speedwagon?" Joseph asked afterward. The older gentleman gestured with his head to the outside.

"It wasn't easy, when we went to Air Supplena Island to see it deserted, we got worried. But thankfully we ran into Meshina, who told us where you all went." The scarred elder looked around for a moment before looking back to Jonathan, confused "Where is Caesar?"

"He's resting right now, his battle with Kars drained him last night." Lisa Lisa interjected, surprising the old man.

"Wait, is Kars…?"

"Yeah, Caesar mopped the floor with him." Joseph then pointed to himself, smirking "And I took care of Esidisi."

Instantly, Speedwagon looked to Jonathan, his eyes shining with anticipation. Jonathan's gaze averted.

"I am going to face Wamuu tonight, he has The Stone."

Erina looked at her husband, knowing immediately that something wasn't right du to his tone of voice. Speedwagon must not have noticed because he nodded.

"Right, then it's a good thing I brought this then." Speedwagon said before gently lowering the silver case to the floor, opening the latches before raising the lid delicately, as if he was opening the Ark of the Covenant.

When Speedwagon finally rose to his feet, cradling the weapon that had been stored in the case, Jonathan froze. As soon as his eyes landed on the golden handle and the deerskin scabbard, the memories came flooding back to him.

" _Friend of a world 300 years in the future from mine, please tell me your name."_

" _Jonathan Joestar."_

" _Jonathan, I shall dedicate the word engraved into this sword of mine to you. Luck!"_

"…and take this with you as you face what lies ahead." Jonathan silently said to himself, his eyes following the hilt as he slowly approached his best friend. The blood had long since dried, yet it still remained in its spot and he read the word it created aloud "Pluck."

"I repaired this blade not soon after you," he coughed before pausing "…died. I was actually thinking of letting Joseph use it, but when you came back, I knew you had to have it." He released his grip as Jonathan gently took it, pulling the blade free of its cover as he studied it. It looked exactly as it did all those years ago.

"Speedwagon…this is amazing."

The two men went to hug but were halted by Joseph's arm, who cleared his throat rather loudly to draw their attention.

"I think that's enough hugging for one day, getting too sappy for me."

Jonathan snickered and put the sword back in its scabbard, using his belt to hold the sword securely around his waist.

"Where are you fighting Wamuu?" The ever curious Speedwagon inquired.

"A place called Skeleton Heel Stone, but I have no idea where that is." Lisa Lisa said as she walked over to the two gentlemen, Jonathan nodding in confirmation. Speedwagon hummed to himself as he cupped his chin.

"I believe I've heard of it, some colleagues of mine mentioned it while on a study here once." The all-knowing Speedwagon reached into his pocket and unfolded a map, looking it over before placing his finger on it "Ah yes, there it is. It's about five kilometers north from here if my map is right."

Jonathan exhaled, knowing exactly what he _had_ to say but it wasn't what he _wanted_ to say.

"Great job, Speedwagon. Joseph, Master and I shall make our way there by dusk."

"Oh no, you're not leaving me behind again." Erina suddenly said, marching over to her now nervous looking husband.

"Erina, please. It's-"

"It's much too dangerous, right?" She finished for him, putting her hands on her hips "If you think I'm going to sit back while you leave me again to put yourself in danger, you're sorely mistaken Jonathan."

"But-"

"No buts!" She said, turning to march toward the kitchen until she turned to Smokey "Smokey, would you like some tea?" The young man looked from the exasperated Jonathan and back to the smiling old woman.

"Um, sure thing Ms. Joestar."

As the two left, Joseph giggled behind his palm and looked to Jonathan.

"Was she always like this?" The trickster inquired, earning a small laugh from the gentleman.

"Somewhat." He then smiled toward the kitchen "But that's what I love about her, silk hiding steel."

Speedwagon indulged in a laugh before he tensed up, turning back to his best friend.

"What about Caesar?"

Lisa Lisa's eyes shot down to the wooden flooring, a sting of regret hitting her chest before she looked back up.

"He won't be in any condition to go with us, he'll need to avoid any sort of combat for at least a day before he is in proper form again."

"With all due respect, Master..."

All occupants in the living room gasped and turned to see a somewhat hunched figure standing in the hallway that lead to the bedrooms, his headband tied firmly around his forehead and his blue jacket on his right shoulder.

"…I disagree." Caesar said, finally stepping into the light with the broken emerald antidote ring in his hand.

* * *

Twilight had taken hold of the sky, the previous blue being overtaken by a hue of lavender and orange. Jonathan looked to see the few stars that were out at the moment, soon to be joined by many more as the sun crossed the horizon. With his trusty, thought to be lost, sword in his lap and his elderly, yet still beautiful, wife napping against his shoulder, he could not help but think of what was to come and the question that tainted that prospect like a virus.

Would he do it?

It was a question that was honestly annoying a part of him now, given how many times he had pondered it the entire day. He knew what he had to do and it was already too late to contemplate it anymore.

"We're nearly there." Speedwagon said, slowing down to tackle a curve in the road. Joseph sat in the passenger seat, looking strangely focused for once and, despite the tight squeeze, next to Erina sat Smokey and an uncomfortable looking Caesar who had been adjusting himself the whole drive over sat elbow to elbow with Lisa Lisa. Smokey had picked up on this fact it seemed.

"You know Caesar, we can switch seats if you want to." He offered. Caesar shook his head.

"No, it's fine. It's just this damned cushion." The blond then looked to the sleeping Erina "Besides, I don't want to wake Ms. Joestar."

Aside from that, the rest of the ride was quiet, letting the tension build to a peak as the massive arena came into view. The air was still, almost suffocating to the gentleman as they pulled in before the huge stone entrance.

"Here we are." Speedwagon commented, shutting off the engine as everyone started to get out.

"Erina, we're here." Jonathan whispered, gently shaking his sleeping wife. She stirred for a moment before waking up, smiling up at him.

"Promise me you'll be careful." She said, running her hand along his cheek. He took her soft hand with his own and nodded.

"I promise."

With this vow made, Jonathan stepped out of the vehicle and gently held the hand of his wife as they entered the huge, stone arena.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Joseph asked cautiously, looking around the empty stadium "I was at least expecting a crowd of zombies."

"That's because this is my fight!"

All of the sudden, the massive fire pit in the middle of the colosseum was lit, sending an orange hue across the entire location. Focusing his gaze, Jonathan made out the outline of Wamuu atop the massive flame, standing on what appeared to be a rope.

"Jonathan Joestar!" Wamuu bellowed before leaping down in front of the fire so as to give him a more imposing look "You have only three days and four nights to take my antidote ring from me, and the only way to get it is by taking my life! Giving me a warrior's death!"

Jonathan looked to his side, seeing that Joseph and Caesar were eagerly awaiting the chance to pounce until the gentleman raised his hand, silently motioning that they step back along with Erina, Speedwagon, Lisa Lisa and Smokey. With a hesitant nod, Caesar obeyed.

"Good luck, Jonathan. Do your family name proud." Caesar smiled as he walked away. Joseph remained, his expression a mix between desperation and hesitation.

"Joseph, I-"

Jonathan was surprised by the sudden hug given to him by his grandson, yet he returned it whole heartedly, closing his eyes with a grin.

"I thought you said today was too sappy for you?" the gentleman wryly commented. Joseph responded by pulling away and smirking after wiping a stray tear from his eye.

"I told you, I'm a great liar." He snarked before giving his ancestor a friendly punch to the shoulder "Do you what you think is right gramps, you have this in the bag."

As his family and friends went to the stands, Jonathan took a few more steps forward, ready to meet Wamuu's challenge.

"I already told you, Wamuu! As warriors, we are both walking away from this fight alive!"

A chorus of demonic whinnies followed his sentence, punctuated by rapid galloping as a pair of two horse drawn chariots pulled in front of the compartments, confusing Jonathan for a moment. The horses were black and had red, glowing eyes, making Jonathan think that they had been turned by The Mask.

"I have pondered your words, Jonathan Joestar." Wamuu announced as he leapt into the air and landed in the stone carriage "But the time for words has passed, today we fight and die like true, honorable warriors!"

Jonathan withdrew his blade and stepped onto his carriage, taking the reins the had been provided in his free left hand. Wamuu took notice of his opponent's sword and smirked.

"I see you already have a weapon, impressive craftsmanship." He then pointed to the rope he had previously been standing on "The Stone is resting atop that rope above the fire."

The honorable being then panned his hand across the arena

"The rules for this are simple. Weapons are scattered around the arena, and the only way to win is if one of us dies. And if you refuse to deal the finishing blow, I will cut the rope that holds not only the Red Stone of Aja, but my antidote ring as well."

"What!?" Jonathan exclaimed, only now noticing a chunk of Wamuu's nose was missing. The surprise of his tone seemed to make Wamuu's competitive smirk widen.

"Now you know the stakes, Jonathan Joestar. Are you ready?"

Jonathan placed a hand over his chest, feeling his racing heart before he tightened his grip on the reigns of his chariot and Luck and Pluck. He turned his head and nodded.

And with the crack of the reigns, Jonathan hoped he could think of something that could save them both.


	19. The Meaning of Honor (Revised)

**This is a revised version of the original ending.**

 **While some things are mostly the same, I decided to add a few more details to give the story more closure. The major changes are near the end, after the battle with Wamuu.**

 **I also decided to hold off on writing a sequel bait epilogue, mostly since I want to be sure I'll pump out the sequel at a consistent rate, which may be a long while thanks to college.**

 **But just to spoil some things so as to answer a few recurring questions:**

 **Dio will not return in any way, shape or form. He may be mentioned, but he is completely gone from the story.**

 **The plot may have more of a mystery vibe, mostly revolving around the Stand arrows.**

 **That's all I'll reveal right now, but I think it'll be better just to see it all in action.**

 **Thank you guys again for reading and reviewing!**

* * *

 _Chapter Nineteen:_

 _The Meaning of Honor_

"Begin!"

With the thunderous yell the ancient, honor bound warrior, Jonathan cracked the reigns and his undead steeds took off with a demonic whinny. The speed of the take off nearly knocked the gentleman off his feet, nearly dropping his trusty sword as he quickly reached up to grab the leather reigns with both his hands.

"T-this speed!" Jonathan grunted, quickly sheathing Luck and Pluck "The mask seems to have the same effect on animals as it does humans!" He commented before putting his mind back on the race, looking to his left to see a glaring Wamuu neck and neck with him. Jonathan looked away, whipping his steeds to gain a slight lead.

Whether it was to get closer to the incoming weapon pillar or to avoid looking at the warrior was obvious to only one audience member, and the young man was currently scratching his chin deep in thought. Then his eyes moved to Red Stone of Aja and Wamuu's antidote ring suspended on a thick line of rope above the massive fire pit that provided light to the whole arena.

With a smirk, Joseph turned to his bandanna wearing best friend.

"Caesar, I've got an idea."

"What are you going on about, Jojo?" Caesar asked in annoyance. Joseph rolled his eyes and pointed to the two precious objects that hang from the rope.

"Listen, I want you to use one of your bubbles to get Wammu's nose ring and the Red Stone. When it gets over there, I'll throw a knife or two to cut the rope, so they can land safely inside."

Caesar's brow furrowed, and he crossed his arms.

"This is an honorable battle between two warriors with clear stakes, Jojo." Caesar said and looked to see Jonathan grab a miniature crossbow from the pillar "I will not-"

"Oh don't give me that bullshit, Caesar!" Joseph yelled, drawing the attention of everyone else, especially a frustrated Erina.

"How many times do I have to tell you to watch your mouth, Joseph!"

"Sorry granny." Joseph groaned and pulled Caesar into a one-armed hug to whisper into his ear "Listen, gramps doesn't want to kill Wamuu."

Caesar's expression went from frustration to confusion rather quickly.

"What? Why!?"

"Because he's one of the nicest guys I've ever met." Joseph whispered with a small chuckle before his eyes trailed back to the two racing warriors "He just has faith in everyone, even if they tried to kill him."

Caesar looked away for a moment before crossing his arms, watching as Jonathan came around the bend to complete the first lap, all within the span of what felt like a minute for this large arena.

"Listen, Jojo. While I am sure Jonathan would appreciate your intentions, it sounds like you are doubting his ability to think on the fly." The blond said, looking back to his friend as the two warriors completed their first lap by crossing in front of the stands "While he may not be as clever in the ways that you are, he is still smart in his own right. And while I may find it ridiculous that Jonathan would want to spare a monster such as Wamuu, I trust his judgement like I do yours and Master's."

Joseph, stunned by Caesar's words, felt his brow go stiff before softening with a sigh. He was right, did he doubt his grandfather that much still? Sure he was a sap sometimes, playing by the rules even when it should have gotten him killed hundreds of times over, but the sheer grit he possessed, that determination, it was something to behold. It was the only thing Joseph could give credit for, aside from God's good graces, how his ancestor conquered every challenge set before him.

"I'm still jumping in if things look grim." He defiantly declared, laying back in his uncomfortable stone seat. Caesar chuckled to himself, looking to his Master, who seemed to understand his eyes immediately with a nod.

"We all will, Jojo."

"What are you two whispering about over there?" The inquisitive Speedwagon asked the two. Not getting an answer immediately made him turn back to the chariot battle, watching his best friend pull with all his might at a crossbow string.

Jonathan grunted as he finally managed to pull the iron ball in the crossbow back, loading the only shot he had as he maintained an uncomfortably steady lead on his opponent. With a glance back, Jonathan saw that Wamuu had chosen the much larger crossbow, loading it with ease. The ancient warrior's eyes were like stone, devoid of any sort of emotion. Yet instead of firing immediately, he lowered his weapon, seeming to be beckoning Jonathan to take the first shot.

Picking up on this hint, the blue haired warrior looked down once more at his long-range weapon and half nodded. Then he took aim, his arm somewhat shaky as he gripped the leather reigns in his other hand.

And with a click of the trigger, he fired.

And missed.

"Blast! The rocking of his chariot must have thrown him off!" Speedwagon yelled, balling his fist. Suddenly, there was a loud clang on the outside railing, making everyone present jump in shock, leaving the ever aware Speedwagon to voice their thoughts "What the hell was that!?"

Wamuu felt the projectile approaching from behind, the iron ball moving quickly through the wind. However, he was too late to dodge it, as an immense amount of pain shot through his left shoulder. The now blood covered ball continued on its path, having lost a bit of momentum from the impact with Wamuu, and slammed into the skull of one of Wamuu's horses.

The blow was not a fatal one, as the brain had not been completely destroyed, but it was detrimental enough to scare the beast, making it lose its footing and trip. Thinking quickly, Wamuu yanked hard on the reign connected to the hurt horse, decapitating the creature and steering his last remaining horse away from the headless corpse.

Wamuu let a proud smirk overtake his shock as he rode on.

"Clever. I knew he would not aim for me and I was prepared for a shot on one of my horses, but not for him to reflect his shot off the wall like that."

"Nice one, gramps!" Joseph cheered,

Jonathan felt a tinge of remorse for the fate of the horse, but turned back to the road and steered his steeds around the curve toward the weapon pillar. There were only three weapons left: an ax, a sledge hammer and a rather ornate looking dagger.

It was then that Jonathan felt an explosion of pain in his side, gasping as the air was knocked out of him.

"W-what?" He managed to wheeze, seeing the iron ball from Wamuu's huge crossbow pierce through his skin and hit the neck of one of his horses. Seeing the same pattern about to repeat, Jonathan knew he would not be able to yank the reigns out of the now limped neck horse.

Fighting through his pain, Jonathan drew Luck and Pluck and managed to cut the other half of the reigns, climbing on top of the chariot and onto his last horse. The chariot ran over the corpse of the last horse and, with no one to guide it, it crashed into the wall rather spectacularly.

As Jonathan was getting adjusted to being on the incredibly fast, vampire horse, a dagger flew barely past his ear and shot through the skull of his horse, taking a chunk of its brain along with it as the small knife stuck into the wall. In the small amount of time he had, Jonathan looked back to see that he had accidentally passed up the weapon pillar without even knowing it and saw Wamuu with the slender ax in his hand.

And a pleased smirk on the warrior's face.

"Blast it!" Jonathan yelled, feeling the legs of his ride giving out and he leapt off, rolling onto the hard-stone floor with a thud.

"Jonathan!" Erina yelled, attempting to get out of her seat. A rather panicked Smokey held her down before she could though, looking to a steaming Joseph.

"Damn it! I'm getting in there!"

"Wait, Joseph!" Caesar yelled, barely managing to stop the hot headed teen with a shoulder grab "We can't just jump down there, Wamuu will run us down like he will Jonathan!"

"He's right," Lisa Lisa admitted and got out of her seat, looking at her two students "Joseph, Caesar, let's run through the rest of the seats and circle around to where Jonathan is." She then gave Joseph a stern, yet understanding look "And by no circumstances should be jump down until things look grim."

Through his teeth were gritting in frustration and impatience, Joseph nodded and the trio of Hamon users took off, leaping over seats and platforming off rails as they circumnavigated the arena toward a downed, groaning Jonathan Joestar.

Opening his eyes, Jonathan was amazed not to see the now lopsided carriage bearing down on him. Instead, he saw the sandal wearing feet of his opponent approaching him, the blade of an ax creating sparks as it was dragged across the floor.

With a pained gasp, Jonathan looked up and saw Wamuu standing over him, a frown on the warrior's face.

"If only you had aimed your shot a little higher, Jonathan. It may have hit my head and done serious damage when it came back around." Wamuu placed a hand on his shoulder, which was starting to heal thanks to the lack of Hamon and tightened his fist "But even with your life on the line, you chose to try and spare me."

With a serious yet confused look in his eye, Wamuu asked the question Jonathan had been longing to hear.

"Why?"

With a small intake of breath, the gentleman closed his eyes. In that moment, the sound of the gentle breeze and the crackling of the huge flame a few feet away from him faded away to where all he could hear was the sound of his slow, yet methodical breathing. Many thoughts echoed in his mind, yet he ignored all of them. All except one, that is.

It felt more like a memory, yet it was not one he could recall.

He was standing on a stone bridge overlooking a calm stream, the noon sun shining overhead. It looked like the same spot where Zeppeli had told him of his first encounter with the mask. A set of footsteps to his right made him turn his head, seeing the checker top hatted man tipping the brim of his hat as he saw him.

"Ah, it's good to see you again, Jojo."

Jonathan's heart leapt when he saw his master again, a wide smile on his face as he turned.

"Master! What are you doing here?"

The baron chuckled, twirling his moustache as he leapt on the stone railing, a small, crust-less sandwich in hand.

"Well, it's your mind, Jojo. I am here because you will me to be."

A feeling of disappointment coursed through the gentleman and he turned away, sighing.

"Of course."

After applying a small bit of pepper to his next bite of the sandwich, Zeppeli smirked at his student and shook his head.

"It was merely a jest, Jojo. You inherited my Hamon, remember?" He then took a bite, the strong flavor of the pepper almost overpowering the Hamon cooked ham "While my spirit may have left this world, a part of me shall always remain in you as long as you live. At least, in your mind that is."

Jonathan fought through his frown with a smile as he looked down at the stream, the relaxing sound of the water calming him.

"A jest in bad taste, perhaps." The gentleman said with a chuckle before shaking his head "I am such a fool."

"And what makes you say that?" Will asked, raining pepper down upon his sandwich again.

"Here I am in the middle of battle, a duel to the death, and all I can think is how much I'll disappoint myself if I kill Wamuu." The gentleman took a seat on the railing next to his master, his eyes downcast on the stone floor "I need to think of what will happen if I fail, how I'll throw my life away for nothing trying to spare someone who will not accept it."

Will hummed to himself as he chewed, tapping his chin just before he swallowed.

"Yes, I would say you are a fool." Will leapt off the railing and looked down at the water "But not for the reason you think."

"Oh?" Jonathan questioned, joining his shorter master in standing.

"Jojo, you wanting to save Wamuu is admirable, truly it is." He said with a small smile, finishing off the last of his sandwich before continuing "But you have to realize that not everything can be resolved with a nice cup of tea and a conversation about the weather, sometimes violence is needed to reach a peaceful end."

Jonathan sighed, crossing his arms.

"I know, Master." He sorrowfully mumbled, feeling his chest tighten with regret before he shook his head "But I am not going to give up, there must be some way I can reach him."

Instead of getting another wisdom filled speech, Jonathan heard his master let out his signature, raspy laugh and pat him on the back.

"Even with a pragmatic speech from me, you still refuse to back down from this." William said with a shake of the head "Sometimes I wonder if your determination is a gift or a curse from your ancestors, Jojo."

"Maybe both?" Jonathan suggested in jest, making both men laugh together.

"Look at you, using dry wit! I guess young Joseph is rubbing off on you?"

"You could say that." Jonathan said with another small laugh.

Jonathan dearly wished they could spend more time together, but from the look in Will's eyes as he stared into the distance, he knew their time was almost up.

"Thank you, Master. When can we talk again?" He asked hopefully, making William shrug.

"Well, unless you plan on getting in the middle of another moral quandary, then simply meditate." He joked and looked up to his giant of a student "I will be here whenever you need me, Jojo."

Jonathan nodded and engulfed his master in a hug, surprising the older man before he quickly returned it.

"Goodbye, Jonathan Joestar." William Anthonio Zeppeli said as the environment began to melt down to the familiar, vast white plain the two had met on at the start of the gentleman's bizarre adventure. Then it was like someone had grabbed Jonathan and dragged him out of his vision until he opened his eyes, seeing the frustrated expression of Wamuu meet his prone form.

"As I said before, Wamuu, I respect you." Jonathan grunted as he managed to get on one knee. Seeing no movement from his opponent, he pushed himself up to his feet, clutching his side "I know you think it is an insult to spare someone, but my father taught me that mercy is the greatest blessing one can give to an opponent." He paused before continuing, seeming to be trying to find the right words as he took a step forward "It shows the warrior who lost that they have a second chance at life, that they have time to change their ways and atone for their past mistakes and or maybe challenge the one who defeated them after they have gotten stronger."

Jonathan stopped himself and looked Wamuu directly in the eyes

"Like you did for me, Joseph and Caesar in Rome."

Wamuu, the ancient warrior and long servant of Kars, took a deep breath and exhaled, his thoughts aflame with conflict as he closed his eyes.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jonathan saw Lisa Lisa, Caesar and Joseph getting into position in the stands. Before they said or did anything, Jonathan raised his hand to stop them, shaking his head slowly with a stern expression.

The sound of an ax dropping to the stone floor brought Jonathan back to Wamuu, who was still looking down.

"Your father sounds like a wise human, Jonathan Joestar." Wamuu said suddenly, raising his hands slowly into the air "And while I respect you as well, there is only one thing you can do that will make me respect you forever as a warrior."

As Jonathan's mouth opened to question what he meant, Wamuu suddenly balled his hands into fist and extended his thumbs, slamming them directly into his eyes sockets, gouging out his eyes.

"And that is to grant me the death I long for!"

"What in the world!?" Jonathan yelled, taking a step back in shock as a drill like horn erected from a hole in Wamuu's forehead.

"Jonathan, watch out!" Lisa Lisa yelled before either Joseph or Caesar could.

"What the hell is that freak thinking!?" Speedwagon questioned frantically, cursing his helplessness once again as he could do nothing but watch.

Before Jonathan could fully comprehend what was going on, tubes began to sprout from Wamuu's arms and legs just like their first duel, with one exception: the tubes were sucking in the outside air instead of ejecting air from his lungs.

"Final Mode: Atmospheric Rift!" Wamuu screamed, the tip of his horn beginning to shake from the buildup of energy.

"Attack him now, Jonathan!" Caesar yelled "It's your only chance!"

Shaking himself out of his horror, Jonathan quickly reached to his side and withdrew Luck and Pluck. Taking a breath, he let the Hamon flow from his hand and into the sword, coating it in a yellow aura and went to swing.

"I'm sorry, Wamuu!" Jonathan yelled and twisted his wrist, bringing the blade down on his intended target.

The horn between Wamuu's eyes.

With a quick, Hamon infused slice, Jonathan cut the horn off from the base and, thinking quickly, he swung the blade around and cut off both Wamuu's arms in two swift chops.

Wamuu let out a pained scream, the tubes that absorbed the wind ejecting the air they had absorbed and quickly retreated into the Pillar Man's skin.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot do that." Jonathan said, slowly sliding his sword back into its sheathe. Wamuu fell back onto the ground, his arms reduced to a pair of cauterized stumps. Silence filled the area, the flame in the center providing the only source of noise, yet Jonathan picked up on another source as he lifted his head, his eyes closed and watering.

"There's such a gentle wind blowing." He muttered, feeling the breeze cool his heated neck "Can you feel it, Wamuu?"

A deep, humorless chuckle erupted from Wamuu's throat.

"Indeed."

Nobody in the stands spoke a word as Jonathan turned to face his downed opponent, finally opening his eyes.

"I have never met a human like you, Jonathan Joestar. One who holds both kindness and honor with the same scarred hand." He said, his eyesight gone and his Hamon inflicted wounds slowly healing "I feel as if fate has lead me here, just to meet you."

Jonathan smiled through his tears, using his right hand to wipe them away as he took a step forward.

"Fate has led me down a long, bizarre path." The gentleman reminisced before continuing "And at the end of this winding road, I am glad you were my opponent."

"And I suppose you will not finish me in this pitiful state, is that right?"

It took only a half second for the blue haired human to answer.

"No. I have won, Wamuu. I do not need to kill you to prove that."

Another chuckle came from deep within Wamuu's chest before he contorted his legs, allowing him to stand up rather quickly.

"I see, then we have reached an impasse, as you humans say."

"I believe I can think of a way to resolve this." Lisa Lisa interrupted, coming in between the two.

"Master?" Jonathan inquired, only to be silenced by a raised hand as she turned to face the blinded Wamuu.

"Wamuu, despite your honorable nature, you are still responsible for a near genocide of the Hamon tribe and the deaths of countless innocent people." She said, her voice like ice as she looked the stoic warrior over before she turned to face her blue haired student "So, Jonathan, what is your judgement for him, if not death, for his crimes?"

Confused, Jonathan tilted his head before he finally got an idea, something that would hopefully work.

"Wamuu, as punishment for your sins, I request that you become my servant. You will obey my every command and you will only act when I say so." The gentleman said, his tone firm but his tightening chest revealing his guilt for saying such things "Is this acceptable?"

The gentle breeze from before came to a screeching halt, the Pillar Man not moving or uttering a single breath for what felt like an hour.

"What you propose is laughable, Jonathan Joestar. A being such as me bowing to a human is ridiculous to imagine." He near laughed, making Lisa Lisa channel a bit of Hamon into her hands before slowly taking a knee, bowing before the blue haired gentleman "However, since you refuse to kill me, this is an acceptable punishment."

"Hell yeah!" Joseph yelled and jumped down from the stands, soon joined by Caesar, Erina, Smokey and Speedwagon as they crowded around Jonathan, shouting an equal amount of praise for his victory.

"However,"

This single word halted the celebration instantly, all humans turning toward the last surviving Pillar Man as he got to his feet.

"I propose that every six months, we shall do battle under the moonlight. If I manage to defeat you at any time, then it will prove that you are no longer worthy of being my master. After that, I shall kill you and accept death at the hands of your Hamon using allies. Is that acceptable?"

Jonathan was hesitant at this proposition, the worried look of his family members and allies causing him to pause. However, he gently pushed passed them and came face to face with the blind warrior, nodding slowly.

"I accept, Wamuu."

"Then I accept as well, master Jonathan Joestar." Wamuu declared and bowed once more, not knowing that Jonathan bowed to him as well, his master's eyes filled with tears of joy "What is your first order, Jonathan Joestar?"

The gentleman paused and looked away, his eyes half lidded with shame for a moment before he regained his composure.

"I want you to head to Air Supplena Island in one week's time, until then I would like you to wait here." He winced when he saw the bloody holes where Wamuu's eyes once were "Your eyes. Do they-?"

"Yes. And one week is enough time for them to regenerate without the need to feed on anything." The warrior's deep voice boomed as he turned around "Which is what I assume you were going to order me not to do next, correct?"

Without waiting for an answer, the once formidable opponent turned ally walked away, seeming to use what was left of his horn to read the wind and lead him to the old resting chambers of the warriors who once fought in the Skeleton Heel Stone.

As soon as the warrior was out of sight, Jonathan collapsed onto his knees, his trusty sword clanging to the ground as he held himself up from hitting the stone floor.

"Jonathan, are you alright?!" Speedwagon and Erina seemed to ask at the same time as they crowded around him, his best friend helping him to his feet while his wife held him close.

"I believe so, thank you." He smiled and wrapped an arm around his wife, pulling her into his chest "I am just glad it's over."

"Not completely."

Jonathan turned and saw Joseph and Caesar approaching, with the blond carrying the Red Stone and Joseph donning the antidote ring on his pinkie.

"How did you two-"

"We went with my original plan, worked just like I said it would." Joseph sneered over at Caesar who simply rolled his eyes as he walked over to their master "Here ya go gramps, drink up."

Jonathan caught the golden ring, staring down at it before letting loose a quiet sigh.

"What's the matter. Mr. Joestar?" The concerned Speedwagon asked. Jonathan shook his head as he examined the ring, holding it in between his thumb and index finger.

"I just wish keeping Wamuu alive didn't mean enslaving him." He looked to his wife, his eyes pleading "Did I really do the right thing?"

She responded by cupping his face with both hands, smiling as she nodded.

"You always do the right thing, Jonathan Joestar. Ever since I met you, you've been nothing but a light in this dark world for me and everyone else." She then slid one hand down to his chin while the other went to her hip "Don't doubt yourself, it makes your chin scrunch up."

The couple who met at a time that seemed like yesterday shared a laugh with the rest of the group, Jonathan wishing to never leave her side no matter what came their way. Suddenly, Erina's eyes moved past him, seeming to be looking at something else before looking back up at him.

"I believe Smokey and I shall head to the car, we don't want to be late getting back." She said before looking expectantly at the shorter young man, who picked up on the hint rather quickly.

"Oh yeah, right! Coming Jojo?"

Joseph looked surprised for a moment and was nearly about to utter a decline. That is until he met the scary looking gaze of his grandmother.

"Sure, but I get to drive this time!" Joseph declared before taking off, irking a stunned Speedwagon.

"Oh no you don't! That thing is borrowed!"

Jonathan, though confused by everyone's sudden exit, had a laugh at both the situation and Caesar's exasperated expression as he went to catch up with the group. All was quiet and still before Jonathan decided to turn around, seeing his master halfway in the middle of her next step. The deceptively young woman giggled.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to make sure we were alone."

Jonathan tilted his head slightly, crossing his arms.

"Alone for what, Master Lisa Lisa?"

Upon hearing her name, Jonathan noticed her grip on her red scarf tighten as she looked away from his eyes.

"My name isn't actually Lisa Lisa. It's Elizabeth." She ignored the surprised look on his face as she finally found the courage to meet his eyes again "Elizabeth Joestar."

"What?!" the gentleman exclaimed, taking a step back in shock. Then it was as if everything clicked into place as the blue haired giant began to recall the events at the cabin, particularly the moment where she gently cupped his face "So does that mean you-"

"Yes. I married George Joestar II eighteen years ago. One year before he died."

"And that means that you are Joseph's mother as well?"

"Yes."

Jonathan's eyes went to the ground, this blow stronger than anything Wamuu had hit him with. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves before he looked up at the ashamed looking woman.

"Why did you never tell him? Or me?"

"Erina knew, Speedwagon did as well." She admitted as she turned away, her hands gripping her scarf even harder as she went on "I didn't want this life for him. I knew the Pillar Men would arrive, but I never imagined it would be this soon or that it would involve Joseph." She sighed, her breath somewhat shaky before she turned back around, her eyes still closed.

"And I did not want to put him in danger by raising him as a wanted fugitive for killing the monster who killed my husband! Do you-"

The sudden feeling of being wrapped in a pair of huge, muscular arms shocked her back to reality, her eyes shooting open as she carefully accepted the gesture, leaning into his shoulder.

"I understand." Jonathan whispered, holding his daughter in law as she lightly sobbed, each breath shakier than the last as he softly rubbed her back. After a few more seconds, he pulled away as she began to wipe her face, her eyes red with tears.

"I'm sorry, Jonathan. I should have-"

"It's fine, Lisa Li-" He stopped and shook his head "I mean, Elizabeth. The past is the past, nothing we do can ever change that. All we can do is look to the future and carry on for those we love."

Jonathan gently rubbed her shoulder and looked toward the colosseum entrance, hearing the distant sound of a car horn honking.

"Are you going to tell him?"

The pale skinned woman nodded, wiping away the rest of her tears.

"Yes. When we get back to Air Supplena Island." She said, Jonathan nodding in response.

"Alright, let's take our leave then."

As his master and now known daughter in law walked away, Jonathan suddenly remembered the antidote ring in his right hand and chuckled to himself, shaking his head as he looked down at it again.

"How wearisome."

After finding the weak point of the ring, Jonathan pulled it open and held the ring over his mouth, feeling the gooey substance on his tongue as he went to swallow. Letting out a slight gag at the consistency of the antidote, Jonathan felt as if a weight had been removed from his shoulders, making him sigh in relief.

His eyes went toward the entrance where Wamuu had left, feeling as if his supernatural servant was watching him through the wind. With a smile, he gave a small wave toward the dark hole and turned to leave, stuffing the broken golden ring in his pocket.

"Until we meet again, Wamuu."

* * *

 _Two Weeks Later_

Jonathan let out a long sigh as he finished looking himself over in the mirror, licking a finger and using it to scrub away a spot of icing on his cheek from a piece of cake he had secretly eaten a little while ago.

"How wearisome." He said with an awkward smile as he tugged at his collar "I suppose this is nice enough for Erina."

"You kidding? You look suave as hell, gramps!" Joseph commented, smiling ear to ear as he came up behind his grandfather in the mirror "This suit makes you look like a million bucks!"

Jonathan laughed and scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Thank you, Joseph. I assume that suit fits you well?"

Joseph blew a raspberry and puffed out his collar.

"Are you serious? This suit was made for me, brings out my devilish good looks." He boasted, making another man present laugh.

"More like it brings out your boorish behavior." Caesar commented, laughing again at Joseph's glare.

"Oh yeah? Says the guy who tried to ask out my mom! And you call me boorish."

"You dared me to, you imbecile!" Caesar yelled, his face a tinge red as Joseph smirked.

"Oh Caesar, I thought I was the one who deflected responsibilities like a child."

"Oh, hush it you two." Speedwagon cut in wearily as he finished his wardrobe by donning his wide rimmed fedora "I am sure Suzie Q would prefer you spick and span, not bruised and beaten, Joseph."

"Implying he could lay a hand on me." Caesar snarked and dodged a punch from Joseph, who looked ready to clean the blond's clock if it were not for a gentle hand on the shoulder from his grandfather.

"I agree, now let us get going. I am sure Erina and Suzie Q are already waiting at the restaurant."

With one final glare at each other, the two friends sighed and left the hotel room with the two older gentlemen close behind. After Speedwagon made sure their door was locked, he groaned as he caught up with the blue haired gentleman.

"I can't believe those two. For best friends, they sure do argue like children."

Jonathan laughed merrily and shook his head, sticking a hand in his pocket.

"I think it just shows the strength of their friendship. All that arguing is sure to strengthen something other than their vocal chords I'm sure."

Speedwagon chuckled and adjusted his tie.

"I suppose so, I guess we should start arguing over who eats their soup with the proper spoon then." The scarred gentleman said with coy smile, earning a good natured roll of the eyes in reply from Jonathan.

"It was one time, Speedwagon."

"One time too many, my friend."

The duo shared another laugh and Jonathan felt his hand glide over something hard in his pocket. Instantly, his expression shifted, and he secretly pulled it out to look it over in his palm.

Wamuu's antidote ring.

Looking at it brought back the many hard nights he had suffered since he and Pillar Man had dueled, and while the being seemed content on Air Supplena island, he could not shake the feeling that he had taken the freedom away from someone who could have developed fine, even better, on his own.

Could his fantasy of ever truly befriending the being on a personal level ever come true? He did not know for certain and it brought the familiar tightness of guilt to his chest every time he thought of it.

But as he headed for the exit to the hotel after catching up with Speedwagon, he could not fight back the smile and eventual laughter at the sight of Caesar and Joseph arguing once more.

Despite everything, he was just happy to be with his friends and family.

In other words, he was happy with Fate's Hiccup.

 **END PART 2**

 **FIN**


End file.
